Sometimes Things Just Happen
by toastedmuffinz
Summary: An unexpected meeting, leading to something more...Reno x Tifa...
1. Chapter 1

Sometimes Things Just Happen

A young woman, looking about 22, walked briskly down the street, with her arms loaded with grocery bags. She shifted the bags around slightly, hoping to be able to balance it all out. It didn't help that the bags were overloaded to the top. The girl at the store hadn't bothered to pack the stuff properly, instead, just threw it all in like there was a fire in the store or something.

The young woman grunted slightly underneath the weight. She blew a stray strand of sable hair from her face. _'I should have asked Tristan to help._'

A few guys sitting at a curb wolf-whistled as she passed them. She didn't even bother to turn and look at them.

"Hey pretty! Where ya heading to?"

"Come join us!"

She ignored them and kept walking.

"Looks like the lady's got a stick up her ass." One of the guys commented.

His friends hooted with laughter. She felt her face flaming up at his words. _'You don't even know me, jerk. What? I was supposed to go over there and just flirt like I'm some girl who has nothing else better to do with her time?'_

She shook her head lightly and decided not to let them get to her. She was so busy with her thoughts that she didn't notice the stone in her way. Without realizing it, she stepped right onto it and suddenly lost her balance and footing. She wobbled, and quickly tried to steady herself. But it was no use, the heavy grocery bags she was carrying, seemed to help pull her down. Few items from the bags fell down to the ground as she fell. She closed her eyes, ready for the impact and the face-to-face with the dirty concrete. But instead of feeling the rough, hard, dirty concrete, she felt the softness of fabric brushing her cheek. That, and a pair of arms wrapped around her waist.

She immediately looked up, only to look into the deepest aqua blue eyes she's ever seen. She felt herself getting lost in those eyes for a moment there. _'They are so blue.' _Realizing her stare, she quickly averted her eyes only to realize that the pair of aqua blue eyes belonged to a guy with two slight scars on the either side of his face that were just right above his cheekbones, and flaming red hair with a few strands falling in front of his eyes. The recognition made her jerk back a little.

His thin lips formed a smirk at seeing her reaction. _'Am I that repulsive to her?' _He wondered amusedly.

"Let me go." She said in a tight, low voice.

"Gladly."

She hadn't expect him to just let go immediately, but he did, leading her to lose her footing and fall on her butt. He chuckled at the sight in front of him.

"You didn't have to let go that fast." She said with a glare.

"Well, you asked. I obliged." He snickered.

She shook her head and picked herself up, brushing the dirt off her skirt. She then proceeded to pick up her fallen items. As she reached for the can of chicken soup, she realized that he was still there, standing and looking at her. She turned her head to look at him in the eye, "Are you going stand there and gawk or are you at least going to help me?"

He snorted. "One, I don't do gawking. Two, if you ask politely, maybe I will help."

"Only maybe?" She raised an eyebrow.

He chuckled and without another word, he bent down, and helped her to pick the stray items.

She smiled despite herself and grabbed the last can.

"There. The last of your crappy things." He said as he handed the dozen of eggs to her.

She looked at it for a while, watching the yellow gooey yolk and egg white trickling from the egg tray before looking back at him.

"What?"

"It's all broken."

"Yeah, this is why I said 'crappy things'." He smirked.

She took it from him and dumped it into a trash can nearby.

"Tsk. What a waste."

"Well, it's broken. What else can I do with it?" She said as she picked up her grocery bags. She looked at him again.

"What are you doing here?"

"What you mean what I'm doing here?"

"Here. In Midgar. The last I've heard, The Turks broke up and left Midgar city."

"You believe everything you hear?"

She shrugged.

"Well, that was probably true for some, but for me, nope. I was born here, raised here, so this is home to me."

"Funny. You never strike me as the 'home-sweet-home' type."

"Funny. You never strike me as the nice 'girl-from-next-door' type." He mimicked her.

She felt herself flushed from the comment. A small smile played at his lips, knowing that he had managed to get to her.

"Well I have to go." She said as she took a step forward.

"Where to?" He asked as he took a step forward to her.

She looked at him skeptically.

"To my bar."

"And where's that?"

"Sector seven."

"Name?"

"What?"

"Name. Of. Your. Bar." He said each word slowly as if he was talking to some 3 year old.

"Don't talk to me like I'm some kid."

He chuckled in response.

"It's called Seventh Heaven. The same as the old one."

"Why not Eight Heaven? Or Tenth? Of Fifteenth? Why Seventh?"

She rolled her eyes.

"It just sounded…nice. It had a nice ring to it."

"Huh."

"I have to go now." She said as she stepped away from him.

She started to walk again before stopping to turn back. He raised an eyebrow.

"Thanks…" She said softly.

"Don't expect it all the time Lockheart." He replied.

She shook her head at his attitude and walked away. He stared at her retreating back for a moment before shrugging and walking down the other way. _'Didn't expect to see her._'

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Final Fantasy 7 characters, they rightfully belong to the Square-Enix-

**A/N: A sudden out of nowhere idea came into my head and I dragged myself over to my com and started typing away. So here's the first part, though I was actually contemplating for a one shot, but my friend told me I should break it up. Okayy…so here it is. My first multi-chapter Reno x Tifa fan fiction. Lol.**


	2. Chapter 2

"Is anyone covering table six?"

"Got it." A blond hair guy with hazel eyes said as he made his way out from behind the counter, grabbing a notepad along.

"Hey."

He stopped and turned around to look at her. She smiled and held up a pen.

"You forgot this."

He grinned and grabbed the pen from her hand.

"Thanks."

"Hey, where's the bartender?" A man said, rather impatiently.

He banged his fist on the counter top. Tifa winced and quickly made her way towards him.

"Hey pretty face. Give me vodka, will ya?" A 20-something guy said as she walked past him.

"I'll be right back with that k? Give me a minute or two." She said with an apologetic smile.

"Where's the goddamn bartender? What bar is this? With no bartender around? Hmph!"

Tifa took a deep breath and hurried over to the grouchy man. She hadn't expected the place to be swamped with people tonight. It was only a Wednesday, the crowd usually came in on Fridays and Saturdays.

"Sorry. What can I get you?"

"Hmph." He eyed her. "You sure you can make a drink?"

"Yes." She said with a forced smile.

"Hey, she whips up the best drinks ever. Ask anyone in Midgar." A male voice suddenly spoke up from beside the man.

The man whipped around to face the owner of the voice. He grinned.

"Trust me on that." He said simply.

Tifa couldn't help smiling at his words. The man looked back at her, eyeing her once again before placing his order.

"Be right back." She said as she turned around to make the drinks.

"That sure is one sexist guy."

"Tell me about it." She replied. She looked up at him in the eye, "Thanks Tristan."

"What for?" He replied with a smile.

"You know."

The blond guy nodded before heading into the kitchen. Tifa quickly finished up with drinks and served it to her customers.

"Thanks doll."

She smiled tightly. She disliked it when people start giving her nicknames like 'dolly', 'pumpkin', 'sweetheart' or whatever, especially when she didn't really know them.

"You free tonight?"

She raised an eyebrow at the guy. He looked like he was 20 at first glance, but now as she looked at him up-close, he looked more like he had just turned 16.

"Wanna come over and do something fun?" He asked with a wink.

Tifa had to stop herself from laughing out loud at that moment. Was he serious?

"We'll have fun _all night long_."

Tifa shook her head with a rueful smile.

"Thanks, but no thanks." She said.

There was a look of disappointment in the guy's eyes but he shrugged it off like it was nothing, trying to keep his cool.

"Hey, someone at table 8 asked me to give you this." Mae said as she appeared beside her.

She looked down at her hand to see a red rose. She looked back up at her co-worker with a confused look.

"It's a guy." She said with a wink.

"A guy?" Tifa was getting more intrigued.

"Yeah. A guy with red hair."

Only one person with that description came into mind. _'Reno?'_

She craned her heck over the crowd, hoping to be able to see table 8. But it was no use, the place was pretty packed.

"Tifa?" Mae prompted.

"I need to go…"

"See who the person is?" She finished for her.

Tifa smiled and nodded. She quickly made her way through the rowdy crowd, careful to watch out for the groping hands. She finally reached the tables and her eyes quickly scanned the area. Her gaze stopped on particular red-haired guy. His face was hidden from her view. She walked right up to him.

"Reno?"

The guy turned around to face her, and to her surprise, it wasn't Reno at all. It was just some other guy that had red hair like the ex-Turk. The guy grinned.

"I'm not Reno, but I'm Jaynick. You must be the bar girl."

She nodded and smiled to cover her embarrassment.

"Sorry, I thought you were someone else."

"That's okay. Did you like the rose?"

She nodded again, feeling a little awkward.

"Thanks."

"Join me?"

"What?"

He chuckled lightly before repeating his last words. Tifa quickly shook her head and mumbled that she had something else to do. That was the second guy to be let down by Tifa. He looked disappointed but nodded anyway. Tifa walked away feeling slightly funny inside.

'_Was I really expecting to see him? Did I really think he would come over since he asked where's my bar at?' _She shook her head and cleared her thoughts.

She made her way through the crowd again, edging away from a staggering fat man who obviously had too much to drink. She stopped short when someone in black blocked her path. Her eyes traveled up to see who it was. His aqua blue eyes had a glint of amusement, matching the small smile playing on his lips.

"Did I just catch a disappointed look on your face earlier when you learnt that imposter over there, wasn't me?" He said with a cocky tone of voice.

She almost blushed at his words, embarrassed to know that she was so transparent, but hid it with a smirk.

"No, you might want to get your eyes checked."

He smirked back at her. She made her way around him and went behind the counter. He followed her, only to find the seats at the counter were already taken. _'Not a problem.'_

He poked one of the guys who was sitting there, at the shoulder.

"Get up."

"This is my seat. I came here first." The guy replied with a glare.

Tifa watched him from behind the counter.

"Well, I suggest you get up…or have me whipping your ass across the floor and you'll look like a fucking idiot."

The guy stood up and glared at him menacingly. He was taller and bigger than Reno. He looked down at Reno, breathing heavily. Reno didn't even flinch. He stood where he was, with a smirk on his face.

"Is that a challenge?"

"I don't know. You decide." Reno replied nonchalantly.

The guy fumed and pulled Reno towards him by the collar. A small crowd began to form around them, anticipating a fight.

"Hey, stop it!"

Reno looked at her. She shot him a deadly glare. They both knew that he was just trying to cause a commotion and that he would easily manage to whip the guy's ass across the floor even though the guy was more built than Reno.

"You know what? I don't feel like wasting my time on you." Reno said to the guy.

"What?" The guy snarled.

Tifa shook her head. _'He has no sense of tact.'_ Instead of cooling things off, Reno seemed to spark the fire even more so.

"Sir. I'm sorry. He's had a lot to drink tonight, so he's a little dense in the polite department. Please excuse him for that." Tifa quickly spoke up before Reno could reply.

Reno snorted.

The guy looked at her for a moment before looking back at Reno. He gave him one last glare before letting him go. Reno brushed the imaginary dirt off his shirt and straightened his collar.

"I'm letting you off on behalf of the girl here."

"You didn't fucking have to." Reno replied without looking up at him, he was gently patting his hair, making sure it didn't get messed up.

The guy fumed, taking a step forward to him again. Tifa sighed and quickly went out from the counter. She placed herself in between the guy and Reno.

"I'm sorry. Would you like another drink? On the house." She quickly said to the guy with a huge smile plastered on her face.

The guy looked at her in slight surprise at her sudden appearance. He nodded anyway but not before giving Reno a menacing glare. Reno stuck his tongue out in response. Before he could say anything, Tifa dragged him by the arm and forcefully sat him down on an empty seat by the counter.

"Hey that hurts!" Reno exclaimed as he rubbed his arm.

'_The girl sure never loses her touch.'_ He shot her a dirty look. She responded with a tight smile.

"Kindly shut up. Now please try to not to create havoc while I work. "

"What if I don't?" He asked smugly.

"Well, then I'll be forced to kicked your butt out of here." She simply replied.

He gave her a challenging look, one that said 'I dare you to'. She hid her smile as she turned around to make a drink before placing it in front of him.

"What's this? Poison?" He said as he eyed the greenish-yellow drink in front of him.

"Just drink it." She said as she went on to serve another customer.

-Few hours later-

"Finally! I thought they would never leave." Mae said as she plunked herself down on the stool by the counter.

Tristan smiled and looked at Tifa.

"She's right. The place was too packed for a Wednesday night. Was there some sort of special thing going on that I didn't know?"

"Nope." Tristan replied.

"Honestly, people can be so weird at times. And not to forget so rude!" Mae complained.

Both Tifa and Tristan laughed.

"What did the customers do to you this time?" Tristan asked amusedly.

"This lady told me she wanted a soda. I brought her the soda and after she tasted it, she told me it wasn't soda. She then insisted me to bring her another one, this time, real soda. I told her that _is_ the real soda, but no, she didn't believe me. She said I probably didn't know what soda tasted like. So when I finally brought out the stupid can of soda and placed it in front of her…she tasted it and she was speechless. I thought she would at least apologize, but no, she had the nerve to tell me it was my fault that I didn't explain to her clearly and I was some incompetent waitress. I totally lost it and nearly lunged for her neck if I didn't have self control." Mae rambled.

Tifa and Tristan laughed again. They stopped when they heard the washroom door opened and a certain red hair guy stepped out. He stopped at the sudden silence and looked at them.

"What?"

"We're closed." Mae stated as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

"So?"

"So, it means…goodbye. See you. Get your butt out that door." Tristan replied.

Mae chuckled, Tifa just smiled in amusement. Reno shrugged and made his way to the counter. He looked at Tifa in the eye. She looked right back at him.

"Aren't you going home now?" Tifa spoke up.

"Aren't you going to close up and go to sleep?" He answered with a question.

"I will. After you go home."

"And I will. After you close up and sleep."

She bit her lip to stop herself from laughing.

"It's late. It's…" She trailed off, and looked at the clock for the time.

"It's 2.15." Tristan offered.

Tifa smiled at him, Reno turned to look at him with a smirk. Tristan just shrugged and smiled.

"And who are _you_?"

"Tristan."

"Huh."

"Tifa, I need to go now, there's something I need to do. I'll see you back at the apartment?" Tristan said as he averted his eyes.

Tifa nodded.

"Mae, you want a ride home?" Tristan offered.

Mae looked at Tifa uncertainly, and Tifa briefly nodded, as if reassuring her she would be alright with Reno. Mae nodded and headed out with Tristan.

"See you tomorrow Tif." She said as she headed out.

"Yeah."

"I'm surprised you're not afraid about being alone with a person who's attempted to kill you several times already." Reno spoke up.

"Reno, if you wanted to kill me, you would have already done so." She replied simply as she wiped the counter.

"How would you know I'm not waiting to strike at the perfect opportunity?"

She stopped wiping and stared at him. He stared back at her, noticing that with strands of her sable hair falling over her right eye while the rest were tucked behind her ears, actually made her looked more beautiful. _'Fuck. Where did that come from?'_

She raised an eyebrow at him. He caught himself before he could actually do anything stupid and quickly spoke up.

"I see you're over the spiky hair kid."

"What?" She asked with her eyebrows knitted in confusion.

"You know, you and that Trish guy."

She rolled her eyes.

"It's Tristan."

"Tristan. Yeah, whatever." He said lazily.

"There's nothing between me and him."

"There's nothing but you guys are living together? Did I miss something?"

"We share the apartment. Housemates." She replied.

"Lucky guy." Reno mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing." He quickly said.

He wasn't going to repeat what he just said, heck, he hadn't even intended to say it out loud either.

"So, where's this boyfriend of yours? I thought the both of you would be all over each other, all lovey-dovey with all that flowery shit and have the what you call a fairytale ending."

She looked away and continued wiping the counter. Reno realized he must have said something wrong. He was expecting her to grin like there was no tomorrow and start rambling about her perfect life with Cloud. But she didn't.

"Hey babe…"

"Don't call me babe."

"Sweetheart?"

"No."

"Baby girl?"

"No."

"Munchkin?"

"Ugh. No." She said as she made a face.

Reno laughed at her reaction. She looked at him, it was probably the first time she saw him laughing, laughing genuinely, without a trace of cynicism or evil in it.

"So what happened?" He asked casually as he smoothly slipped over the counter and sat on top of it, facing her.

"You're leaving your butt prints on the clean counter that I just wiped."

"Well, that would leave you something to remember me by." He replied mischievously.

She shook her head as a small smile appeared on her lips.

"What happened?" He prodded.

"What does it matter to you?"

"I dunno. I'm bored. Need a little amusement."

She decided to ignore his last comment.

"He's in Rocket Town with Cid, Shera and Vincent."

"What the hell for?"

She debated on whether she should go on further. _'Oh, whatever.'_

"After the Meteor, we went back to Nibelheim and collected a few memories before deciding that there was too much sad stuff there. So we went to North Corel with Barret and Marlene."

"After a month, Cloud decided that he couldn't really stay in one place. He needed to get out in the world. So we left for Gold Saucer for a while, and then to Gongaga. Then we left for Wutai to see Yuffie."

"I was getting a little tired of having to move here and there all the time. I wanted to settle down somewhere and build a new life. I mean, Yuffie had Wutai. Cid and Shera in Rocket Town. Barret and Marlene in North Corel, Reeve's here, Nanaki in Cosmo Canyon, Vincent's with Cid and Shera…and me…I was tagging along on a road I didn't know would lead to where."

Tifa paused and looked at the rag in her hands. She fiddled with it for a while before continuing.

"Finally when we were in Junon, I told Cloud that I wanted to settle down somewhere. I want to open up a bar like I used to. I want a life where I know where I would wake up every morning. Cloud apologized but told me that he just couldn't bring himself to settle at one place."

"It wasn't just that shit right?" Reno spoke up.

Tifa looked at him in surprise.

"It's also cause he can't commit himself to you. The crappy guy wants you there with him but he can't exactly commit, yet he doesn't want you to leave his side either. Yup, it's all about him being selfish." Reno said with a satisfied look.

He looked at her for affirmation. Tifa slowly nodded, a sad look crossed her features. Reno felt a twinge of guilt. He felt like he had squashed on someone's pet turtle with his foot.

"I made the decision that day. And came here to Midgar since it was pretty near to Junon. Met Reeve and here I am." She said softly.

Silence. Reno shifted slightly, uncomfortable with the silence. Tifa fiddled with the rag again. She sighed softly and walked to where he was sitting. She turned to the sink and started to wash the rag.

"You don't have to feel like you missed out anything."

Her hands froze midway.

"It's his loss." He said again.

She felt a lump in her throat as her eyes start to get glassy. She swallowed hard. A single tear fell down to her right cheek. _'Am I still gonna cry after a year? After pulling myself together and starting a new life? No, you're not that weak Tifa. Don't let the tears fall.'_ Another tear fell. _'Damn. Why am I so weak?'_ She quickly wiped the tear away with the back of her hand.

Reno watched her quietly from behind. He tried to find something funny or sarcastic to say. But for once, his mind was blank for a quick comeback. He knew she was crying, he didn't have to look at her to know.

"Hey." He spoke up.

Tifa realized that she hadn't cried over Cloud ever since she opened her new bar. Right now, the memories seem to flood back, overwhelming her, consuming her. She gave in to her tears and stopped avoiding them. The tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Don't…" Reno paused for while, struggling to keep his words, he wasn't used to this. _'I hate this kind of thing.' _Comforting a crying person was not one of his best skills. He usually ended up making them more miserable than they already were. "…cry, over him. Stop letting the broken pieces of memories haunt you."

Tifa turned around to look at him. He forced a goofy grin on his face, hoping to make her laugh. It succeeded with a small smile that crept onto her lips.

"Don't be a lovesick puppy. Stop crying. You look awful with that tear-streaked face."

She giggled lightly and wiped her tears away. Reno watched her as she slowly wiped her tears. He didn't know why, but he hated the sight of her crying and he just didn't want her to cry. He reached his hand out to her right wrist and pulled her towards him.

Tifa looked at him in surprise, but let herself to be pulled anyway.

His other free hand held onto her other wrist. His body moved forward as he leaned closer. Tifa felt her breath being caught in her chest. She watched as his face came closer. _'Those blue eyes…'_ She felt herself once again getting lost in the aqua blue eyes of his. His face was just two inches away from hers.

He slowly closed his eyes, and she felt herself doing the same.

She could feel him coming closer and his light breath on her face. His hands were still on her wrists.

Her eyes flew open after a few seconds of no movement. He had stopped and was staring right into her eyes. She felt herself getting nervous, and a weird feeling growing in her stomach.

She watched as he slowly pulled his face away and let go of her wrists. She stared at him as he propped himself back.

Reno let out a grin.

"You thought I was going to kiss you, weren't you?"

Her face flamed up at that very moment. Reno chuckled lightly. He swiveled around and jumped off from the counter. He brushed himself off.

"It's late. I'll walk you home." He said without looking at her.

Tifa stood there in slight shock, trying to comprehend everything. He looked at her and smirked.

"Are you coming or what? I'm not going to live forever and wait for you to make up your mind."

She quickly nodded and turned off the lights as he went out the door.

"Ready?"

She nodded again. They started to walk in silence. It was nearly 3 in the morning. The moon gave a light glow on the path, as the stars twinkle above them. There was also a light breeze in the air. She shivered as the breeze blew by them. Reno noticed it and realized she wasn't wearing a coat or a jacket.

"Where's your coat?" He suddenly asked.

"I forgot to bring it with me today."

Reno nodded. She shivered again. He sighed softly. _'Being nice wouldn't kill me. At least I think so.'_ He took off his black long-sleeved shirt and placed it over her shoulders, covering her from the cold.

She turned around to face him when she felt the sudden warmth on her shoulders and the soft feel of fabric.

He shrugged and continued walking. He didn't really mind, he was wearing his white t-shirt underneath the shirt anyway, and he didn't mind the cold.

"Thank you." She said softly.

He said nothing. They continued to walk in silence until they finally reached her apartment that was 10 minutes away from the bar. They stopped and looked at each other.

Reno nodded upwards.

"You should get going."

She nodded and took the black shirt off her shoulders, and handed it back to him before leaving. He watched her go and slowly turned around to head home.

**A/N: Thanks for all the really nice reviews you guys left…Dragon Girl323, The Highwaywoman, Empress-Eerian-Sadow, WrexSoul, DarkBeerAngel and Izzia. Hope you guys will like this chapter, it's longer and…well, yeah, it's longer. Thanks again, the reviews definitely made me smile.**


	3. Chapter 3

Tifa reached for the bronze door handle and gently pushed it down, the cool evening breeze brushed past her skin as she closed her eyes to take in the evening weather of Midgar.

She opened her eyes when she felt a shadow suddenly loomed over her figure.

As usual, the obnoxious smirk was on his face.

"What are you doing here?"

Her question had sounded more like an accusation.

"Well, nice to see you too Lockheart." Reno replied sarcastically.

"I'm sorry. How may I be of help, sir?" Tifa replied with the equal hint of sarcasm.

Reno chuckled as he ran his hand through his messy crimson hair.

"I left my key here."

"Key?"

"Yeah, key. You know, those thin little metal things that you use to lock and open the doors?"

Tifa rolled her eyes.

"How very dictionary-like of you. Yes, I know what a key is."

"I thought you didn't know. Tifa Lockheart…you really do surprise a guy." Reno said with faked surprise.

"Well, I always try my best to."

"Are you gonna let me in or do you plan to leave me out here?"

Tifa bit her lower lip and stared at him for a moment before stepping aside to let him into her bar.

"Where did you leave your key?"

"If I fucking knew, I wouldn't be finding for it right now."

"No, I mean, where in _here_, did you leave it?"

Reno shrugged as he looked under the chairs. Tifa stood by the door and watched him.

Without even looking, he knew her eyes were trained on him.

"Help me look will you? Don't just stand there and watch me like I'm some lab specimen." He said without looking up at her.

"If you say please."

"Go to hell." He replied.

Tifa sighed. She got down on her knees and started searching with him.

"Where did you sleep anyway?" Tifa asked.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Curious."

"Curiosity kills the dog."

"Cat." She corrected him.

"Yeah whatever."

"So where did you bunk in?"

Reno stopped searching and his gaze locked on hers.

"I have a few babes who are always willing to take me in." He replied with a grin.

"Figures."

"Are you jealous?"

"Why would I be?"

"Because I didn't go to you."

Tifa snorted in response. _'Once a jerk, always a jerk.'_

"I have better things to be jealous of and you are not one of them, unfortunately."

"I'm deeply hurt Lockheart."

"And I'm deeply not interested."

Reno smirked. _'This is the first girl that doesn't fall for my charms or looks. Interesting.'_

"I found it!" Tifa exclaimed as she emerged triumphantly from under a table with a silver key in her hand.

She handed it over to Reno who took it without a word of thanks. She shook her head and went behind the counter to get ready for the evening.

Reno's eyes followed her every movement. Tifa eyed him.

"What?"

"I'm hungry."

"There's a restaurant down the street." She offered.

Reno nodded.

"What?" She said again as Reno made no move to go.

"Well if you're gonna be such a brat then I guess I shouldn't bother asking you to join me."

"You're asking me?"

"No, I'm asking the ghost next to you." He answered sarcastically.

He then proceeded to pretend conversing with the invisible person supposedly standing next to Tifa.

"Hey. Wanna go for dinner? We could have steak or something. And then maybe go kick a few puppies and burn a house or two. Then knock out some store and steal all their stuff. I dunno, what do you say?"

She couldn't help but laugh.

"It's okay Tif. You guys go ahead. Tristan and I will be able to handle it." Mae said as she came out of the washroom.

She obviously had overheard their conversation.

"Are you sure?"

Mae smiled reassuringly.

"You need to eat. Go."

"Thanks." Tifa replied with a grateful smile.

"Just don't forget to grab something good for me." Mae said with a wink.

Tifa nodded and reached for her coat.

"Hey, remember to tell Tristan that we need to get a couple more glasses. Quite a few have cracks."

Mae nodded.

"Oh yeah, don't forget to change the table cloths. And also to change the water filter, it's getting a little murky." Tifa added.

Mae nodded again with a small smile. Reno caught her eye and smirked with a nod at Tifa's direction. Mae laughed.

"If you're done being a great-grandmother, can we leave now?" Reno said impatiently.

A slight hue of redness appeared at Tifa's cheeks. She quickly nodded and followed him out.

……………………………………………………...

"10 questions."

Tifa raised an eyebrow.

"I'll ask you 10 questions about yourself. And in return, you get to ask me 10 questions about myself."

Tifa debated it for a little while before nodding. He grinned.

"Wait. What are the limits?"

"None."

"None?" She repeated.

"None. We can ask each other anything. And no lies."

"Okayy…." Tifa answered with uncertainty.

"I'll go first."

Tifa didn't even bother to argue.

"What is the color of the lingerie you are wearing right now?" He asked with a mischievous look and a huge grin on his face.

Tifa almost choked on her water at his question. Her cheeks went red and she could feel her ears burning.

"That's not a question!"

"It was presented in a question form." Reno stated, clearly enjoying himself.

Tifa took a deep breath. _'I should have known this was coming. Why in the world did I agree to this anyway?'_ "Black." She answered with a flustered look.

He raised an eyebrow with interest.

"Alright. My turn." Tifa quickly said. "Why did you join the Turks?"

He leaned back in his seat and shrugged. "I didn't. They recruited me in and that's how I got there. I thought about just getting a little fun here and there, didn't really expect to stay long but damn, the things we Turks do…I would be crazy not to stay."

Tifa looked at him with slight anger. _'Fun? Killing people is fun for him?'_ But she kept her mouth shut and didn't say anything, though inside she was burning with the urge to punch him there and then.

"Next question…" Reno paused and thought about his question. "What do you do before you go to bed?"

Tifa stared at him like he was some kind of lunatic. _'What normal person would ask this kind of questions?'_ She was starting to regret agreeing to this in the first place.

"I take a long shower, curl up with a good book on the couch. If I don't feel too sleepy, I will play a little of the piano." She rambled nervously.

He chuckled and nodded.

"What do _you_ do before you go to sleep?" She suddenly asked.

"Take a drag out of a cigarette or two before hitting the showers and then strip naked and plunk into my bed." He said casually.

She snorted lightly at his last words and shook her head.

"Then, what's your favorite thing to do?" He asked in a low voice as he leaned forward.

"Playing the piano."

"You can't be serious."

She gave him a rueful smile.

"No, actually, I like to strip dance." She said in a low, husky voice.

Reno's eyes widened. Tifa laughed at his reaction. _'Typical Reno.'_

"Of course I like to play the piano. What else?"

"You nearly got me excited there Lockheart."

"Sorry to burst your bubble." She replied with a wry grin. "My turn. What's the first thing you do in the morning?"

He snickered at her question but answered anyway.

"I roll out of bed and hit the showers."

"Don't you brush your teeth first?"

"Nope. I don't even bother to."

She wrinkled her nose at his answer.

"Okay, my turn again. Two questions."

"What? Why?"

"Huh, four questions for me then."

Tifa stared at him for a moment before realizing that her previous words had came out in a question form. She nodded dejectedly, mentally kicking herself for wasting three questions just like that.

"K…what's your favorite ice cream flavor?"

"Lime."

"What's the one thing you would never do?"

"Uh…Playing the piano in front of a large crowd."

"Only that? Wow. So I guess it would be okay for you to fuck in an elevator?"

Tifa glared at him. He quickly held up his hands in surrender.

"Okay okay. No need to get so touchy."

"Last question then it's my turn."

"I only asked two. When did I ask the third question?"

"You did with the elevator thing and you just asked the last one."

Reno sat back with a slight pout on his face, feeling unsatisfied.

"Why did you ask me out for dinner?"

"I was hungry and presumed so would you." He answered simply. "What's your deepest secret?" He asked in a low voice, leaning forward towards her again.

She leaned in closer to him, like she was about to tell him the biggest secret of the year.

Their gaze locked on each other.

"Like you said, it's a secret." She whispered.

"Tell me. I can keep it." He replied in an equally low whisper.

"Excuse me, your food is served." A voice suddenly said, breaking their closeness and eye contact.

Reno shot the waiter with an annoyed look but said nothing. Tifa just thanked the waiter politely.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Huh, another question for me." Reno smirked.

She shook her head and proceeded to take a bite out of her noodles.

"Was that spiky hair ass your first love?" He suddenly asked.

Tifa nearly choked on her noodles. She grabbed the glass of water that Reno held out to her. He waited patiently for her to swallow.

"I guess." She answered softly.

Tifa shrugged and looked up at him.

"What about you?"

Reno shifted uncomfortably at her question. _'Why couldn't I just keep my big-mouth shut in the first place?'_

"Well, I…no, nothing. Not yet." He mumbled.

Silence suddenly seemed to loom over their table. Both said nothing for a while.

"So last question…" Tifa spoke up.

"You go ahead."

Tifa nodded.

"Why did you stay in Midgar? I mean really."

"I just wanted to. No particular reason." He answered without looking up from his food. "My last question…" He then looked up at her.

"Would you fuck me in an elevator?"

Tifa's eyes grew wide at his question. Reno couldn't help but laugh at her reaction.

"I was only kidding. Really." He said in between his laughter.

Tifa shook her head, feeling slightly annoyed but a smile crept onto her face anyway.

……………………………………………………...

"Heading back to your bar?"

"Actually, I was thinking along the lines of dessert." She replied as she patted her stomach.

"I've never thought you would be such a pig." He said with a smirk.

"Excuse me. Take that back. I am not a pig."

She looked at him and noted the slight wry grin on his face.

"What's with that smart-ass look you have on your face?" She said as she gestured with her hand.

"You can't take back words that you've already said." He answered casually.

"Fine. Don't take them back." She answered defiantly.

"It's not that I don't want to. I can't. Didn't you hear what I just said?"

"Okay, okay. I got it." She said exasperatedly.

He smiled to himself, enjoying the fact that he was still able to annoy her at times. He shoved his hands in his pockets as they continued walking.

"Hey, there's an ice cream corner over there." Tifa suddenly said.

Her lips formed a full grin as she grabbed his sleeve and pulled him to follow her.

He rolled his eyes but allowed himself to be tugged along.

"Hi. Do you have the lime flavored ice cream?"

"I'm sorry miss. We've just finished the last scoop a few minutes ago." The girl behind the counter said.

The smile on Tifa's face fell as she heard the girl's words.

"Just get another flavor will you?" Reno spoke up.

Tifa shook her head and gave a small smile to the girl.

"It's okay. Thanks anyway." She said before walking away.

"Hey. Why didn't you just get something else?" Reno said as he caught up with her.

"I just prefer the lime flavored ones."

"And why's that?"

"The taste of the lime gives me a little rush whenever I eat it. I like that. The other flavors are nice…but they are pretty boring." She explained.

"How very fickle of you." He commented.

She smiled and shrugged good-naturedly.

"If you want dessert so badly and _must have_ that lime-flavored ice cream of yours, then let's go looking around of it. There's still time before your bar gets swamped." Reno suddenly said.

Tifa stopped and looked at him with a surprise look. Reno stopped too, as he realized the words that had just flew out of his mouth. _'Where the hell did that come from? Did I just offer to help her look for that stupid ice cream?'_ He groaned inwardly.

"Would that be okay with you?" She asked tentatively.

He shuffled his feet for a moment. _'Smart move Reno. You really have a bloody big mouth_._ Say no. Shake your head. No.' _

He nodded. He could have said no, but for some reason that even he didn't know, he didn't.

Tifa grinned at his response.

"Hey, maybe we could try the next street, I think they have an ice cream place there."

He nodded again and unwillingly followed her. Unfortunately for them, the ice cream place didn't have the lime-flavored ice cream either. They then went around to another few more places, and neither one had the ice cream Tifa wanted.

"This must be my unlucky day." Tifa said glumly as they walked out from the ice cream place.

"Maybe that place over there has it."

Reno pointed to a small café just up ahead. Tifa looked up and shook her head.

"It's a café. What are the odds they would have ice cream? Especially lime-flavored ones."

She sighed.

"Forget it. It's okay."

Reno glanced at her before glancing back at the café and then back at her. He rolled his eyes. _'Whatever. She looks desperate.'_

"You stay here. I'll go check it out."

Before Tifa could say anything else, Reno was already making his way towards the café.

She watched him walk into the café and resignedly sat herself down at the curb. _'I've never thought there would be a day where Reno and I would actually have dinner together. Who would have thought? Former Turk and former AVALANCHE member?'_ A giggle escaped Tifa's lips as she imagined how Barret's reaction would be if he found out about this. _'He would probably be so mad.' _She mused. She sighed softly as a wave of emotions hit her. _'I miss those times…back when we were all together. Back when…' _She stopped her thoughts and forced herself to think something else.

"There! Finally!" Reno exclaimed as he plunked himself down next to her, breathing heavily.

In his hands were two ice cream cups. He held one out to her.

She looked at it before looking back at him. He raised an eyebrow.

"What? It's that stupid lime flavor you wanted."

She took the ice cream from his hands. She looked at it and smiled. She then looked back up at him again. Tifa watched as he placed a spoonful of lime-flavored ice cream into his mouth. He grimaced as soon as the taste of the lime reached his taste buds, but after he swallowed it down, a small smile of satisfaction crossed his features. He then noticed her staring at him.

"You've obviously never seen a good looking guy before, haven't you?"

She shook her head amusedly before turning to eat her ice cream.

**A/N: Finally, an update! I know I took a long time, sorry bout that. I actually had this chapter done but then I wasn't satisfied with it, so I kept changing and editing it. So here it is, my third chapter. I'm not quite sure if it's better than the previous, personally, I think I like my previous chapter better…Lol. Anyway, special thanks to my good friend Mags who took her time to read this and to review and to help me with whatever strange grammar I had suddenly popped out into the story. Lol. **

**To Dragon Girl323, Aleatoric, Empress Eerian-Shadow, The Highwaywoman, Shinju, Santeira, Izzia, WrexSoul, RandomRenoFangirl, Lucian's Angel87, Nando the RPS King, GreenEyedJo and RebelliousNekoAngel…thank you so much. I'm really thankful for all the reviews/comments/compliments…Thanks again and take care.**


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey, what's going on between you and the guy?"

"Guy? What guy?" Tifa asked quizzically as she wiped the counter.

It was early morning, a day after Tifa's 'dinner' with Reno. Mae had been pestering Tifa ever since the night before for more details on their 'so-called dinner date'. She wasn't going to let up so easily.

"That Turk." Mae answered pointedly.

"Ex-Turk." Tifa corrected her.

"Right."

Tifa shrugged. Mae raised an eyebrow and leaned forward across the counter. She cupped her chin in her hands as she looked at Tifa expectantly.

"It's nothing."

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Yes. He's just some…some kind of friend."

"Some kind of friend? That's it?"

"Mae!"

Mae laughed.

"Okay, okay. I'll quit prodding."

"Thank you."

"But really, what do you think of him?"

Tifa shot her friend a mock glare. Mae grinned.

"C'mon." She wheedled.

"I told you what I think of him before. Remember?"

"That was right after the Meteor, when you obviously still harbored feelings of resentment for the guy. What? You still think he's the same, I quote, 'motor-mouthed alcoholic smoker who goes around whoring'?" Mae questioned.

"Not exactly."

"So?"

"I'm not saying that he's turned good or anything. But I guess, he's not that all bad either."

Tifa shrugged and stared at the rag in her hands for a little while. Mae eyed her with a goofy grin on her face.

"So, he's not a bad guy after all?"

"That's not what I said. He still has that streak of a…" Tifa paused and looked back down at the rag, racking her mind to find the right words, not noticing Mae's eyes had suddenly widened.

"Streak of a motor-mouthed alcoholic smoker who goes around whoring?"

Tifa froze at the sound of the voice. She averted her gaze from the rag to Mae. Her eyes posed a silent question. Mae merely nodded. Her eyes had said it all. Tifa bit her lower lip and grimaced. She took a deep breath and turned around.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to talk behind a person's back?" He said as narrowed his aqua blue eyes at her.

"I was…"

"Bullshitting." He interjected.

"I was not bullshitting."

"Oh yeah, that was major bullshit."

Her cheeks flushed, knowing that she had been caught in the act. _'Okay, so I was… a little…'_

"How long were you standing behind me anyway?" She suddenly said, trying to cover up her embarrassment.

She fiddled nervously with the rag, struggling to keep a cool, unaffected aura but failing anyway.

"Long enough to hear what you had said about me before."

"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to eavesdrop?"

"No, obviously she didn't." Reno replied nonchalantly.

"Well, then I'm telling you now."

"You're not my mother."

Tifa felt her cheeks flamed up in anger. That was a 'do-not-pass-through-brain' statement. It wasn't the words that annoyed Tifa so, it was the way he had said it, the tone of voice used. She didn't understand why he was being so upset over it either.

"I'm not talking to you anymore."

"Like I fucking want to."

"Fine." Tifa replied hotly as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Fine." He mimicked her.

Tifa opened her mouth to say something but decided the better of it. She snapped her mouth back shut and turned away from him. She continued to wipe the counter violently, obviously taking out her anger on the innocent counter.

An amused smile grew on Mae's face as she noted the childish side the two were showing. She shook her head.

"Can I get you anything?" She asked Reno.

"Yeah, can I get some ear plugs?"

"Whatever for?" Mae asked in confusion.

"I don't want to hear that annoying high pitch squeaky girl voice of that bar brat there." He said as he pointed at Tifa's direction.

Tifa dropped her rag and glowered at him. He smirked back at her as his eyes reflected the arrogance in them.

"Mae, can you please tell that _brat _that I do not have a high pitch squeaky voice and I would be more than please to take the ear plugs and shove it up his nose?"

Mae sighed and looked at Reno.

"Tifa says she does not have a high pitch squeaky voice and she would be more than please to take the ear plugs and shove it up your nose." She said to him.

"Tell that _kid_, she doesn't have to act like she has a goddamn stick up her ass." Reno said as he kept his eyes on Tifa.

"Tif, he says you don't have to act like you have a goddamn stick up your ass."

"Tell that ego-headed egg, he's the one acting like he has a stick up his ass." Tifa shot back.

"Ego-headed egg?" Reno repeated.

"What?" Tifa replied defiantly.

"You're a real goddamn brat you know that?"

Reno gave her a withering look. Tifa felt her blood boil. He really went too far now. Sure, she could take his sarcasm, his stupid jokes, his corny lines, but this time he was really getting too much for her to take. She stepped up to him. Mae backed away a few steps, sensing Tifa's obvious anger.

"You're a real jerk, Reno."

"And you always think you're fucking right? You are…"

"Hold it! Stop!" Mae suddenly raised her voice over the 'little commotion'.

They both turn to look at her. Mae swallowed hard. Both Tifa and Reno had this glowering look on their faces, and the tension between them was really heating up. Mae smiled weakly.

"Weren't you guys getting along yesterday? And now the both of you are acting like sworn enemies, ready to take each other down."

Tifa and Reno looked at each other. Reno smirked as she wrinkled her nose. Mae shook her head, feeling like she was separating two bickering kids.

"She started the damn thing." Reno accused.

Tifa narrowed her eyes.

"Like you weren't looking for a fight yourself."

Reno's aqua blue eyes illuminated a flare within them. His patience had really been pushed to the limit this time.

"I came in here and there you were, bitching about me."

"You weren't supposed to listen." Tifa argued though she knew it wasn't really a good excuse.

"Oh right. Like I'm suppose to know when you're gonna start bitching about me." Reno snapped back.

Tifa clenched her fists at her sides. She was trying really hard to stay calm and it wasn't easy. Reno's tone of voice was getting edgier and the mean, sarcastic side in it was really getting to her.

"I wasn't bitching. And you don't have to get so work-up over it."

"Please. How would you feel if you walk in on me bitching on you?"

"I. Wasn't. Bitching. About. You." Tifa repeated through clenched teeth.

"And the dogs will suddenly be skydiving in the air."

Tifa threw her hands up in the air in disbelief.

"You're impossible!"

Reno narrowed his eyes furiously. He took a step back, feeling like he had more than enough.

"You know what?"

"What?"

"You can go to hell for all I care!"

Silence.

She stared at him in shock. Reno took a deep breath. It came out louder than he intended it to be, he hadn't meant to shout. _'Who fucking cares? I'm pissed. I have the goddamn right to shout if I want to.'_

With that, Reno stalked off in a huff, slamming the door behind him as he left.

Tifa stared at the empty spot where Reno was standing just seconds ago. She was stupefied over his sudden leave.

Mae switched glances between the door and Tifa a few times, before her gaze finally rested on Tifa. She decided to keep her mouth shut, just to be on the safe side.

Tifa was too numb to say anything. She took deep breaths, trying to comprehend everything and to calm her anger. She slowly shook her head in disbelief. Mae watched her quietly from the side.

Tifa reached out for a glass of water and raised the glass to her lips. The cool water gave a refreshed feeling her to the heated feeling in her throat. She then decided that she had too much for that day and quickly grabbed her jacket and headed out. _'I need some fresh air.'_

Tifa made her way through the crowded street. She watched as a group of little kids ran past her. They were laughing and playing happily, with not a single care in the world. Tifa sighed and wished things in her world are just as simple as their world, black and white. Simple and easy. She could feel a throbbing pain in her forehead. She gently rubbed her temples with her fingers, hoping the pain would quickly go away.

There was another feeling inside that was also nagging at her, but she couldn't make out what it was.

She sighed again and made her way back to the bar, hoping that whatever was bugging her would go away.

……………………………………………

Throughout the rest of the day, the nagging feeling remained. Tifa felt uneasy and was silent during the whole evening. She hardly talked to her customers like she always did. Even Tristan and Mae didn't approach her, knowing that it would be best to leave her alone.

Finally, after closing, Tifa had silently followed Tristan back without a word. Tristan tried to break the silence a few times, but Tifa only answered with monosyllables. Tristan gave up his effort and decided to keep his mouth shut.

She fell onto her bed and stared up ahead at the ceiling. A strand of sable hair fell onto her face and she blew it away. The uneasy feeling was still there, nagging at her. An image formed in her mind and she tried to brush it away. His piercing aqua blue eyes was really bugging her. She shifted uncomfortably in her bed.

Tifa sighed in frustration and sat up. The feeling was now nudging her conscience.

Her mind reeled back to what had happened. _'Did I really went out of line earlier?'_

Tifa miserably cupped her chin in her hands. _'Stupid Reno.'_

But deep down inside, she knew it was partly her fault. She should have understood how he had felt to hear something like that. She knew she wouldn't like it if someone were to describe her that way. She felt bad for letting her temper off like that.

'_I have to make it up to him and apologize or something.'_

The thought of it made Tifa scrunched her face. She wondered how in the world was she going to apologize to him. She didn't even know if he would still want to see her, let alone to let her apologize. And it bugged her to know that she actually _cared_ about his feelings.

……………………………………….

Reno sleepily dragged himself over to door when he heard the knocking on his door. _'Who the hell can it be at such an early hour? Don't people sleep?'_

It was barely 8 in the morning and Reno had finally been able to fall asleep after tossing, and turning throughout the night. As much as he hated to admit it, the whole 'fight' with Tifa had really bugged him. After their 'fight', he had went over to another bar and drowned himself in the wonderful world of alcohol. Amazingly, the alcohol seemed to have no whatsoever effect on him.

"What!" Reno barked as soon as he opened the door.

A guy holding a bunch of flowers stood there in shock at the sudden outburst. Reno narrowed his eyes.

"Uh…are you…" The guy fumbled with a piece of paper in his hand.

Reno sighed and shook his head. _'8 am. And here I am bugged by a guy who doesn't even know who he's looking for and with a bunch of stupid flowers in his hands.'_

"Reno right? The flowers are for you. From a….oh, it's not mentioned here. Well, here it is." The guy said as he handed the flowers over to Reno.

Reno's eyes widened in shock. He stared at the flowers for what seemed like forever until the delivery guy cleared his throat. Reno shook out of his stare and grabbed the flowers.

"Thank you. Have a nice day sir."

Reno stared down at the small bouquet of flowers in his hands. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of small white piece of card at the side of the bouquet. His hands deftly reached out and flipped it over.

'_The white tulip is a symbol of forgiveness, so, it's just my unconventional way of saying sorry…somewhere along those lines anyway. So, I'm sorry. Tifa.' _

'_What the hell is wrong with that girl?'_ He stared back down at the bouquet in his hands. _'White tulips?' _A small smile slowly appeared at his thin lips. It then cracked into a grin before he finally burst out laughing. _'That Lockheart girl is really something.'_

**A/N: Fourth chapter…uh, so far so good…I guess. Lol. Well, it's slightly shorter and I'm actually satisfied with it. So, once again…thank you to everyone who reviewed…your comments/advice/etc. is very much appreciated by me. Empress-Eerian-Sadow, The Tiramisu of Impending Doom (Hey, I like your pen name a lot. Probably cause I'm a tiramisu lover. Lol.), Dazzle1, Dragon Girl323 (You're so nice! Oh yeah, sorry I haven't been leaving my reviews at your fic lately. But yes, I still like your fic.), GreenEyedJo, Marta, WrexSoul, Izzia, RebelliousNekoAngel, Nando the RPS King, AniGirl 7 and Neko-Yuff16… thank you! And also…to everyone else who took the time to read my fic, thanks.**


	5. Chapter 5

Tifa Lockheart dragged herself to the door. Her arms and legs were weighing down on her. She was aching all over and was more than eager to have a nice warm bath to unwind herself.

'_I wish I could have lime ice cream right now. That would taste so good…'_

Her stomach growled in response to her thought. Unfortunately for Tifa, she remembered that she had wolfed down the last of her ice cream two nights ago. She was supposed to stock up, but she totally forgot about it. Tifa sighed as she opened the door that led to her apartment. She switched on the lights as she walked in.

'_Maybe I could ask Tristan to get it for me.'_

Tifa headed straight for the long couch and flopped herself down. Her arms lay outstretched. She felt like all her energy was drained out of her system. Tifa shifted in her position to get comfortable. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted something. Something on her coffee table, something that wasn't there the last time she saw her coffee table. Her eyes widened to get a better look.

'_Is that…'_

Tifa pulled herself up and stared at it.

Sitting there on her coffee table, was a small ice cream pint. Lime flavored ice cream to be specific. She pulled herself closer and picked up the small pint, feeling the damp coldness. She gingerly opened the cover and saw the ice cream was still in its perfect shape, unmelted. She wondered how on earth could the ice cream be here and not melt. She ruled out that it was Tristan's doing, knowing that he was with her the whole day at the bar. There was no way or time, he could have sneaked back here and left this here.

She glanced at the coffee table again. There was also a silver spoon and an envelope sitting on it. She picked up both. She stared at the envelope, noting at the absence of a name. She debated if she should open it or not. She looked at the ice cream in her other hand. It looked so inviting and so good. Tifa licked her lips in anticipation. She deftly took a huge scoop of the ice cream and placed it into her mouth. The sudden cold sensation made her body tingle. A huge grin grew on her face.

Tifa opened the envelope carefully and drew out a white notepaper, folded neatly into half. She didn't recognize the writing. Her eyes scanned the short content of the note.

'_For you to pig out. See, at least I have the decency to get you something you'd like, not something like a bunch of flowers which I utterly dislike.'_

Tifa raised an eyebrow. She had a sneaking suspicion who it was. _'But it can't be him. How could he get into my apartment? And if it was him, he must have left this barely minutes ago, cause the ice cream is still frozen.'_

A sudden thought crossed Tifa's mind.

She immediately stood up and swiftly glanced around her.

Nothing.

She cautiously walked to the kitchen. Nothing. She then walked towards her bedroom. She had stopped at Tristan's room to check, but there was nothing there either. Tifa stopped outside her door. She took a deep breath as her fingers reached for the door handle. She quickly flung it open.

Nothing. Or rather, no one.

All she could see was her bed, closet, table… no whatsoever figure, except for her shadow. She looked around. Her gaze fell on what look like a piece of paper on her bed. She walked over and picked it up.

She squinted to read the words in the dark, with only the moon shining its glow through her window.

'_I bet you thought I was gonna be here. Well, you're wrong! Too bad Lockheart. You misjudged me.'_

She walked out of her room with the note in hand and settled back down onto the couch. Her hands reached out for the ice cream and she placed another spoonful into her mouth. A goofy grin crossed her features and it stayed there for the rest of the night.

……………………………………….

He stared at the dark plush door in front of him. He swallowed hard. _'Just get in there and act normal. Stop being stupid, you moron.'_

His throat felt a little dry and scratchy. He wondered what he should say. _'Apologize? No way. Not even over my dead body would I ever apologize to her.'_

He shuddered at the thought of himself humbly apologizing to her.

Reno stared at the door again. The door suddenly opened and the familiar whiff of alcohol caught his senses. A group of construction workers made their way out. Reno caught sight of the sable haired girl at the bar. The place looked a little empty, probably because it was near closing. Another couple proceeded to leave.

Reno stepped aside to let them through. He rolled his eyes and finally settled on his decision.

"See you Jack."

A tall man making his way out, smiled and gave a wave before leaving. Tifa waved back. Her wave stopped short when she saw Reno standing by the door.

"Tif, I think we're pretty much done here." Mae said as she trudged towards to the counter.

Tifa nodded, but her gaze was still on Reno. Mae raised an eyebrow. She turned around to see what Tifa staring at. At the sight of Reno, Mae's face broke out into a knowing grin. She looked back at Tifa.

"Hello? Earth to Tifa." She said as she wave her hand in front of Tifa's face.

Tifa broke her gaze and turned to look at Mae. Mae wiggled her eyebrows. Tifa shot her a warning look.

"Go talk to him." Mae said in a low voice.

"Why should I?"

"You know you want to."

Tifa rolled her eyes in response.

"Hey."

Both Tifa and Mae turned around at the sound of his voice. Reno shifted uncomfortably under their gaze.

"You wanna head out?" He asked, not quite looking at Tifa.

Tifa opened her mouth to reply but Mae beat her to it.

"Definitely. She would sure be pleased to."

Mae grabbed Tifa by the arm and proceeded to lead her towards Reno, more like pushing her towards him actually.

"You both go ahead. I'll close up." Mae offered.

Tifa shot her a glare. Mae replied with an innocent smile. She nudged Tifa.

"Cool." Reno said simply, as he turned around and started to walk down the street.

Mae gave Tifa another shove, motioning her to follow. Tifa glared at her one last time before going on her way.

…………………………………………………….

"So…" Tifa began.

"So."

Silence.

Reno shoved his hands in his jeans' pockets. Tifa brushed a stray strand of her hair away from her face. They continued walking, not having a destination in mind. Reno was a few steps ahead of Tifa, but neither one made the effort to either slow down or hurry up to catch up with each other.

"How are you?" Tifa suddenly spoke up.

Reno stopped and looked over his shoulder at her. Tifa shrugged. She silently rebuked herself for asking such a weird, out-of-nowhere question.

"I'm…okay."

Tifa slowly nodded. They continued walking. _'Say something Lockheart.'_

"Thanks for the ice cream." She blurted out.

Reno stopped dead in his tracks. He didn't see that coming. Without looking back, he just nodded. Once again, Reno was at loss for a quick come back. He realized that it only happened when he was around her.

"How did you…get in?"

"I'm a Turk." He answered.

Tifa restrained herself from smacking herself in the forehead. She had almost forgotten that as a Turk, he probably acquired all kinds of skills, including picking locks. _'Very stupid Lockheart.'_

"How's…the ice cream?" Reno asked in a feeble attempt to kill the awkwardness.

"It's pretty good."

The awkward silence descended over them once again. It was quiet and nothing else but their footsteps were heard in the dead of the night. The moon was hidden from the dark clouds, looking like it was about to rain anytime soon. The air had a misty smell to it as the mild winds blew by.

Reno cursed himself for putting himself in such a situation, wishing he hadn't gone to her bar in the first place.

"Do you still keep in touch with the rest of the Turks?" Tifa asked.

"Yeah. Every now and then we would meet up. What about you? Still close with your bunch of heroic buddies?"

"We meet up too."

"What about that ol' spiky head?"

Reno immediately regretted the words that came out of his mouth. He knew he shouldn't have brought up something like that, especially since the first and only time he did, she had ended up crying. He slowly looked over his shoulder.

Tifa had stopped and was staring blankly at a dark corner, with her arms hugging herself tightly.

"Hey." Reno spoke up loudly, hoping to snap her out of her thoughts.

It did. Tifa immediately looked up at him.

"Will you quit being so hopeless over that asshole?"

Tifa felt her face growing hot at his words. She was embarrassed at her obviously very-transparent feelings.

"Well it would help if you don't bring him up." She shot back in an attempt to hide her embarrassment.

"What? It's my fault now?"

"You shouldn't have said anything about him."

"Well, I'm _sorry_ for having a freedom to say whatever I want when I want." He replied sarcastically.

Tifa narrowed her eyes. Reno smirked and looked away.

Before Tifa could retort, there was a sudden streak of light, followed by the sound of a thunder. Rain started to fall, gently at first. Both of them looked up, at the feel of the cool drops of water on the skin. It gradually poured harder. Tifa closed her eyes as the feel of the refreshing moist on her face, forgetting for a moment there, all her worries and fears. She had always liked the rain.

Reno quickly grabbed her arm, jerking her from her reverie.

"Let's go! Are you planning to get sick?"

He didn't give Tifa a chance to answer as he tugged her to follow him. Tifa obliged and they both ran to find a sheltered place.

"Where are we heading to?" Tifa shouted as the rain drowned her voice.

Another flash of lighting appeared above them, followed by the thunder. Twice.

"Back to the bar!" Reno shouted back.

Both Tifa and Reno had not realized that his hand, the one that was originally clasped around her arm had slipped down, now clutching her hand.

They reached her bar and Reno quickly reached out to open the door. It was locked. Tifa's hands immediately searched through her pockets to find the keys. It was only then did she realize she was not wearing her coat and her keys were in that coat. Reno banged on the door, hoping Mae or whoever was still in. There was no answer.

"Damn it. Do you have the key?"

Tifa looked up at him and quickly shook her head.

"It's in my coat. And my coat's inside." She said as she jabbed her finger towards the door.

Reno groaned. The cold wind blew harder, making the both of them shiver. Tifa quickly hugged herself.

"How can you bloody not have the keys?" Reno exclaimed in frustration.

"I told you. It's in my coat pocket. I didn't grab my coat on the way out. Both keys to my home and the bar are in there. And it's not my fault that we are stuck out here. So quit shouting at me." Tifa replied as she glared at him.

Reno shook his head. His mind worked furiously to figure out what to do.

"Don't you drive or something?"

Reno shook his head again.

"Maybe we could go over to your place." Reno suggested.

Tifa rolled her eyes and pointed up at the sky. Reno shot her a confused look. Just right then, there was another flash of lightning. They both cringed at the loud sound of the thunder.

"We can't leave in this kind of weather." Tifa said.

"So we're fucking stuck." He pointed out.

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Damn it. This is all your fault."

"My fault?" Tifa looked at him with a surprised look. "Excuse me, you were the one who came over and wanted to talk. You were the one who decided to take a stupid walk."

"But I wasn't the one who forgot her keys." Reno shot back.

Tifa glared at him. Reno looked away. She huffed and turned her back on him. She knew it was a childish thing to do, but she couldn't care less. He was always blaming her for things that weren't even her fault.

Reno looked at her out of the corner of his eye. He sighed inwardly as the guilty feeling tugged at his conscience.

"Hey."

Tifa didn't bother to turn around. Reno rolled his eyes at her childishness. He dejectedly sat down at the doorstep and started to brush out the wetness in his hair. Reno was soaked wet with his shirt sticking to his skin, making him feel uncomfortable. Still, he was glad for the small awning above their heads. It didn't do much, but at least it was still able to shelter them from the rain.

'_Why did I ever think Reno was capable of being nice?'_ Tifa fumed. She was annoyed with the way his attitude kept changing. She had thought he was actually a nice person inside, but with that close-to-argument earlier, she had entirely changed her mind about him. The wind blew by again and she self-consciously rubbed her hands against her upper arms, hoping to keep herself warm.

"There's no point standing there. The rain's not going to stop anytime soon." Reno suddenly spoke up.

Tifa stiffened, not willing to turn around. She took another step forward in an attempt to ignore him, and felt the rain drops on her skin as she did so. She was halfway sheltered from the rain as the awning could only reach so far.

"You're gonna catch a cold if you stand there." He said pointedly.

Tifa kept silent. Reno shook his head amusedly at her attitude.

"Look, just sit down okay?" He said again.

Reno stood up and reached for her arm. She felt herself shiver at his touch. Reno said nothing. She turned around to face him. He sat back down at the doorstep and motioned to the place beside him.

Tifa bit her lip and relented. She sat herself down next to him, feeling the slight warmth from being beside him.

After a moment of silence, she dared herself to look at him. Reno had leaned back against the door with his eyes closed. Her eyes traveled across his facial features, noting the soft look on his face when he's asleep. Even with his eyes closed, she could just imagine the depth of his aqua blue eyes, the ones that she got lost into many times. A small smile crossed her lips. _'Hold it. What am I thinking about?'_ She quickly shook her head to push her thoughts away. _'Must be the coldness that suddenly numbed my brain.'_

She sighed and looked away. It looked like it was going to rain throughout the night. Tifa sighed again.

**A/N: Yes, I finally updated…and I know I took extra long for this chapter. Sorry bout that. I had this huge pile of assignments and a CV to finish up so I couldn't find the time to re-read and edit this thing before uploading it. If there are any mistakes/ typo/ whatsoever, I'm sorry. Okay, so as usual…big thanks to; **

**Nando the RPS King, GreenEyedJo, Neko-Yuff16, The Tiramisu of Impending Doom, RebelliousNekoAngel, Katharine the Lolita, Izzia (Thank you so much for your comments, I am flattered and honored), Night Sins, lovextine, Sugihara, WrexSoul, tifaery, Empress-Eerian-Sadow, boameda, AniGirl 7, Dragon Girl323 and of course…Santeira (Thanks for taking your time to read even though you are so busy. I really appreciate it. Hehe). So, thanks everyone and till the next chapter, take care and see ya. (",)**


	6. Chapter 6

"She's sick."

"What you mean she's sick?" He asked with a baffled look.

"You know… the cough, wheeze, sniff, cough…"

He rolled his eyes at her words. He ran his hand through his messy hair before stuffing both hands into the back pocket of his dark jeans.

The chestnut haired girl looked at him skeptically for a moment before shrugging and turned away from him.

His gaze fell down to his shoes. He stared at it intently for a while, but his mind wasn't on the black shoes, it was on a certain sable haired girl.

His head suddenly snapped back up. With a determined look, he quickly made his way out of the bar.

…………………………………………………………………………

She reached a hand up to her forehead. _'Hot.'_

She sighed and struggled to release herself from the tangled bed sheets she was caught in. When she finally managed to do so, she felt too tired and was ready to fall back on to her bed. But she needed a drink. Her throat felt dry. She ran her fingers over her lips, feeling the dryness of it. She quickly licked her lips in hopes to moisten it.

She reluctantly got up from her bed as she heard the knock on the door. She took a step forward but stopped when she felt a sudden wave of dizziness hit her. Her eyes flew shut for a moment as she tried to recompose herself. The person on the other side of the door knocked again, impatiently this time. Her eyes flew open. She slowly made her way to the door. The knocks were getting louder by the second.

The girl gently massaged her temple as she made her way. The knocking of the door seemed to be amplified somehow. She felt as if each knock on the door was a hammer pounding away in her head. She closed her eyes again as her hand reached for the door knob.

The door flew open, revealing the impatient visitor. The guy stared at her for a moment. Her eyes slowly opened to see who it was. All she saw were a familiar pair of blue orbs staring at her before everything went black.

His hands reached out immediately as if on reflex. He caught her in his arms before she could hit the carpeted floor. _'Boy, is she heavy.'_

He carefully carried her over to the sofa and gently placed her down. The guy looked around the apartment, noting the absence of any other human being. He stared down at the unconscious girl. His right hand instinctively reached out for her forehead. He quickly pulled away when he felt the unusually warm forehead.

The flaming red hair guy went into the bathroom and grabbed a clean piece of towel on its rail. He ran the towel under the cold water from the tap. After draining it dry, he made his way back into the living room again with quick strides.

The sudden cold feeling on her forehead seemed to suddenly jolt her senses. She tried to open her eyes but couldn't. She gave in to her sick self and allow herself to just trust whoever it was who was taking care of her.

A smirk crossed his features as he watched her. He crouched down, leveling himself on the same height. His hand reached out hesitantly. He paused for a moment before continuing. His fingertips gently grazed her left cheek and slowly went upward as he brushed a strand of hair from her eyes. She didn't move at his touch, to which he was thankful for.

He quickly stood up again and made his way to the kitchen. He couldn't cook to save his life, but he knew he did have some culinary skills that would be enough. He hoped.

A full hour passed as the guy triumphantly emerged from the kitchen with a bowl and spoon in his hands. He sat it down on the coffee table opposite the sofa and slumped himself down onto a comfy armchair. As soon as his head hit the soft cotton fabric, he immediately gave in to his need for sleep.

………………………………………………………………………

"Where am I and what time is it?" Tifa mumbled as she squinted at the sliding doors of her living room that led out to a small balcony.

The evening sun was glaring into her living room, casting a warm orange glow to the room.

She pulled herself up and the first thing she saw was a bowl of soup sitting on the coffee table. She reached out for it. _'It's cold.'_

Her stomach growled, so she decided to ignore the lack of warmth a soup was suppose to have and dug right in. It was chicken soup but somehow it tasted sweet. It wasn't bad, but it had a funny taste to it. Despite the lack of the 'chicken-soup feel', she finished it anyway.

She was about to place the bowl back onto the table when the thought hit her in the head. _'Who made this? I know for sure I didn't.'_

She caught a light movement out of the corner of her eye. Her gaze immediately flew to the armchair. The bowl in her hands nearly dropped as a result of her shock. Her eyes widened. _'Am I seeing right? Or is this my imagination?' _

She rubbed her eyes with her hands. _'Nope. Not an imagination.'_

She quietly got up and made her way into the kitchen. She wasn't prepared for the sight that greeted her. In fact, she had to hold on to the doorway to restrain herself from fainting. She breathed in deeply and tried to relax herself. The sight of her kitchen made her felt sick all over again. There were a pile of pots in the sink, vegetables strewn on the floor and the table, the cutlery drawer was opened and in a mess. There were strange stains on the kitchen towels and there were droplets of what look like the soup she just ate on the floor. She squinted hard at the ceiling. _'How in the world did he manage to get those up there?'_

She sighed dejectedly. Cursing softly under her breath, Tifa carefully made her way into what looked like a war zone and placed the bowl into the already full sink. She made her way back out, deciding that she didn't have the energy to clean up such mess. She didn't think she would want to clean it even if she had the energy.

The guy was still sleeping soundly at the armchair. Tifa decided not to wake him, he looked tired anyway. _'Who wouldn't be with all that mess made?'_ she mused.

She came out of her room half an hour later only to find him still sleeping. Freshly showered and feeling better, Tifa decided to play a little of the piano.

She sat down at the piano and let her fingers run through the familiar and well-loved black and white keys. Gentle sounds of the piano filled the room. A smile crossed her face as she played.

The music awoke him, leading him to open his eyes. At the sight of her playing, he decided to stay still and be quiet just to watch her. He didn't want to interrupt her and he didn't want her to stop playing either, which he felt she would if she knew he was listening in.

After a few pieces, he felt himself drawing nearer to her. He told himself it was just the music, but he wasn't good at lying to himself. To others yes, he's the master of all bullshit, but to himself, he's the worst ever. He went closer to her, careful enough not to make a sound.

She had her back turned to him, but she could feel him approaching. It was just something she picked up back then. She knew when someone was behind her. But this time, she could tell the person had no motive of killing her or whatsoever, so she ignored him. She continued playing.

He stood right behind her. His eyes were closed as he listened to her playing. As much as he hated to admit it, he enjoyed her playing. Sure, he heard others play before, but there was something about her playing that drew him in.

Tifa suddenly stopped.

His eyes flew open to find her wine colored eyes staring into his.

"Do you want to sit?" She asked softly as she patted the place next to her.

He hesitantly sat down beside her as she began to play again.

No words were exchanged between them for a long time.

She kept playing.

He kept watching her play.

"Nice." He finally mumbled.

A small smile appeared as she continued playing.

"I've been playing since I was young."

"Figures."

She stopped to look at him.

"Can you play?"

He shrugged.

She took her fingers away from the piano keys. He shot her a dubious look. Tifa only smiled.

Reluctantly, his right hand fingers reached out. His index finger pressed a key before the rest followed. His left hand reached out and started to play in tune with his right. The smooth, gentle notes of music began to flow.

Tifa listened, half-impressed and half-surprised. She said nothing though, but continued to watch him play.

She turned to look at his face as he played. There was a semi serious look, semi soft look on his face that she couldn't quite describe.

Without even realizing it, she let her head gently fall onto his shoulder as he played. She closed her eyes as she allowed herself to be lost in the music.

"Do you like me?" He suddenly whispered softly, not wanting to ruin the moment.

"Um."

"Is that a yes?" He whispered again.

"Maybe." She replied in an equally soft voice.

"What's a maybe?"

"I don't know…yet." She answered, her head still on his shoulder.

He bit his lower lip. He was hoping for a real answer, not answers like this. Yes or no. That was all he needed to hear.

"It's a simple question."

She lifted her head from his shoulder and looked away.

"It's not."

He stopped playing abruptly.

"Why not?" He questioned.

"Cause…I don't know, what is it…that I'm feeling." She answered softly.

Reno got up. Sudden feelings of hurt and anger washed through him. Tifa quickly looked at him, surprised at his sudden reaction.

"How is it that you don't know? Do you like me or not. That's just it. Yes or no. One simple answer."

"I just…"

"Forget it." Reno interjected.

He didn't want to stick around to get rejected. It wasn't his style. Then again, it wasn't his style to actually like someone for real either…for the first time ever.

He turned around and grabbed his coat.

"Reno, wait…"

He stopped midway and looked back at her.

"I'm sorry." She said.

Without another word, Reno stalked out of the apartment, confused and lost at her answers. Tifa stared back at the piano. She sighed softly.

**A/N: I apologize for taking such a long, long, yes, very long, time to update this. I was really distracted and busy with other stuff. So, once again, I am really sorry. And of course, thank you to all who reviewed, and I hope you guys will enjoy this chapter. **


	7. Chapter 7

The thin figure slipped into the shadows of the night. He kicked a pebble out of his way, a little show of the frustration in him.

He didn't and couldn't understand.

Why did she answer that way?

Why did he ask her that?

Why did he even think about asking?

Most important of all, why the hell was he feeling this way?

He let out a frustrated groan.

He had no idea what hit him. It was just a sudden feeling. Something that he couldn't explain but it just hit him without any warning. It was something he had never really felt before. Sure, he heard about it, saw it, but never did he actually feel it himself.

"This is stupid." He muttered.

…………………………………………………………………………

She stood at the window, letting the cold air of the night brush past her. She stared at the lone figure out on the street.

Her eyes fell downcast.

Questions whirled through her mind, none answered.

She lifted a limp hand to push away a lock of sable hair that was in her face.

With one last glance, she quickly retreated to the darkness of the room.

……………………………………………………………………………

"There's a note for you on the counter." Mae said as Tifa stepped into the bar.

The sable haired girl cast a questioning look at her friend. Mae just smiled and pointed to the counter.

Tifa gingerly picked up the note and immediately recognized the familiar hand writing.

'Meet me at the town square at 7?'

She stared at the paper in her hand for a moment.

"Are you going to meet him? Cause if you are, then you can go ahead. Tris and I can take care of the place." Mae said as she walked up to Tifa.

Tifa only responded with a shrug. She glanced up at the clock on the wall. It was just another few minutes to 7. She debated her decision.

She stared at the note again before looking back up at the clock. It went that way a few times, before she finally made up her mind.

……………………………………………………………………………

He stared at the sea of people around him. The town square seemed extra crowded tonight.

He shoved his hands in his back pockets while looking around to see if she was here yet.

No sign of her.

He glanced up at the clock tower.

20 minutes past 7.

'_Is she even coming?'_

He could only hope.

Truthfully, he didn't really wanted to see her, but he needed to clear things up with her.

He hated the nagging feeling that was gnawing his insides every single minute.

He hated that flowery-like feeling that was consuming him.

He just hated it all, but the one thing he couldn't bring himself to hate…was her.

……………………………………………………………………………

"Thank you for taking care of my little boy."

Tifa shook her head and smiled.

"Well we have to go now. Thank you." The lady said again as she took hold of her the hand belonging to a little boy next to her.

"Thank you." The boy chirped.

"You're welcome."

She smiled affectionately at the boy and gave a small wave as she watched them go.

Tifa was on her way to the town square when she bumped into the little boy who was crying. It took her a while to coax him out of his crying and to explain what had happened. When she found out he was lost and separated from his mom, she immediately took up the job to help the little boy.

She looked at her watch.

7.30.

'_Should I still go? Maybe he had already left…'_  
………………………………………………………………………

"She's not gonna come." He muttered to himself.

Staring up at the clock again, he saw it was near 8.

He sighed and shook his head.

"Excuse me sir…"

Annoyed, Reno turned to glare at the young voice that had just bugged him. The young voice belonged to a little girl large brown eyes and long black hair that were tied with a maroon ribbon at the nape of her neck. She looked almost like a younger version of the girl he was waiting for.

"I'm sorry. But I was wondering if you'd have a spare gil." The girl spoke up.

"Whatever do you need the gil for?" He said as he narrowed his eyes.

"I have to make a call to my father, sir." She answered with the least fear of him.

Reno sighed and dug into the pockets of his black jeans. His hand dug out a coin and he handed it to the little girl.

She took it and smiled gratefully at him.

The innocence and sincerity of her smile made a thin line curved at his own lips, forming a small smile.

"Thank you so much."

He stared at her for a moment, wondering if she'd be safe all by herself with the crowd. _'What the hell…it's not a big deal anyway.'_

"Do you need me to take you to a place where you can call your dad?" He suddenly offered.

A thoughtful look crossed her little face. She then looked up at him and nodded.

"If that's okay with you sir."

"It's okay with me, on one condition."

Her brown eyes widened as she awaited for his words.

"You will stop calling me sir. Heck, I'm not some old balding foggy like some fu…" Reno caught himself in time before he could say the word he'd probably regret saying in front of the kid.

The little girl giggled and nodded.

"Alright, then let's get going."

She fell in step beside him.

"What's your name?" she asked curiously as she looked up at him.

"Reno."

She nodded.

Reno felt the obligation to ask hers.

"What about you kiddo?"

"Shinae."

"That's a nice name."

"You have a nice name too. Reno. I like it." She replied with another smile at him.

Reno grinned.

"Well glad you think so kiddo."

"Were you waiting for someone?"

Reno thought over his answer for a moment before shaking his head.

"No."

………………………………………………………………………

Tifa looked all around her.

She then looked up at the clock tower.

8.10.

He was nowhere in sight. She sighed.

'_This is stupid. He had probably left.'_

She sat down at the fountain and stared at the ground, contemplating what she was to do next.

'_Call him and apologize? No, why should I? I didn't do anything wrong…although I was late…but I had a good excuse…but still, I should have at least called him or something to say I'd be late…but I don't owe him an explanation do I?'_

Tifa shook her head at her mind rambling.

She looked around again, hoping to spot the familiar red hair somewhere.

Nope. The town square was unusually bustling with people, with some taking casual evening walks, some selling stuffs…

Tifa sighed and cupped her chin with her hands as she observed the crowd.

She could just leave the square and head back to the bar, but for some unknown reason, she didn't want to. Not yet.

"I'm sorry, but I'm a visitor to this town and I am sort of lost. Do you think you could help me with the directions?"

Tifa blinked and stared at the owner of the voice.

She quickly stood up and smiled at the old man standing next to her.

"Sure." She replied cheerfully.

Tifa carefully went through the directions with the old man and explained the road he needed to take to get to his destination.

Busy with the map in her hands, she didn't notice the thin red-haired figure in black shirt and black jeans, walk past them.

…………………………………………………………………………

"I'll take the chocolate."

"I'll have the…" he paused as he stared at the particular flavor.

Shinae looked up at Reno and gently tugged at the cuff of his sleeve.

Reno snapped out of his thoughts and looked down at her.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." He responded quickly before proceeding to choose the lime flavored ice cream.

The both of them took their respective ice cream cones from the vendor and found themselves a spot to sit by the fountain.

"You like lime?"

"It's okay."

"I like chocolate. It's nice."

Reno had to smile at her innocence. It was nice hanging out with someone who sees things in a simple manner. He felt like he didn't have to be the adult he is while being in the presence of the little girl. On the way back after she had made the call, she started telling him about her friends, the games they play, the food her mother cooks, the simple random things. He had felt himself enjoying her company, just listening to her childish ramblings, without worrying about anything else.

He had invited her for an ice cream cone and she had agreed. While waiting for their ice cream, they had played rock, paper, scissors. It had been a long time since he played such a game and he barely even remembered the rules of the game. But it was something different from his past, where his hands were familiar to the gun and his nightstick. She provided him the childish heaven that he had long forgotten.

"Let's play hopscotch." Shinae suddenly spoke up.

"What in the world is that?"

She giggled and shook her head at him.

"What?"

"Have you ever played it?"

"Doubt it."

"Well, you can start now."

……………………………………………………………………………

He stood up from his spot at the fountain and ran a hand through his already messy hair.

The little girl's father had picked her up half and hour ago. Before leaving she even gave a slight peck on his cheek, causing him to blush deep red. He had never been that close to a kid before, he never had the intention to. He suspected hanging around with someone who was that dead set with maternal instincts must have something to do with it. Namely a girl called Lockheart.

There was still no sign of her though.

He sighed.

Just as he took a step forward, ready to leave and forget all about it, he heard her voice calling his name. Reno paused in his tracks but didn't turned around.

"Reno." She called out again.

His back stiffened at the sound of his name.

She slowly made her way past the crowd towards him.

Hesitantly, she placed her hand on his arm. He felt his insides squirm at her touch but he kept his cool persona and didn't turned back to face her.

Tifa dropped her hand from his arm.

"I…"

He waited for her explanation.

"I…I was…" She began again but then paused.

He suddenly whipped around with frustration written all over his face.

"Where were you?" He demanded.

Tifa took a step back, surprised at his sudden outburst.

He shook his head and looked away.

"I was helping a little boy to his find his mom." She explained softly.

"Did it occur to you I was here waiting for you? For nearly two hours?" He barked.

Tifa slowly nodded.

He blew the strand of red hair that was in his face.

"You wanted to see me?" She said softly.

"Not anymore." He answered with a wave of dismissal.

Her eyebrow raised.

"You called me here and now you're telling me you have nothing to say?"

He shrugged.

Tifa's eyes narrowed. She was about to open her mouth to speak when a girl suddenly interrupted her.

"Flower miss? Sir? Would you like to get a flower for the lovely lady?" The girl said cheerfully.

"I'm sure she'd love a flower or two." She added again.

Reno sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair. He looked at the girl before looking at Tifa. Tifa however, averted her gaze when he looked to her.

"Well, if you're having an argument, the best thing is to forgive and forget and what better with a flower as a peace offering?" The girl chimed.

Reno rolled his eyes at her words.

"C'mon sir. A flower could melt any girl's heart." She prodded.

Wanting to get rid of the persistent girl, he impatiently pulled out some coins from his pocket and gave it to the girl. The young girl in exchange, gave him a stalk. He sullenly took hold of it without a word.

"Thank you! Have a nice evening. Oh, and the both of you make a very cute couple too. You would have lovely kids. Trust me." The girl said with a grin before walking away.

Reno nearly had a heart attack while Tifa stared wide-eyed at the space she was looking at upon hearing the girl's words.

The both of them looked up and gazed at each other at the same time. Both felt a sudden heat in their cheeks.

Not wanting to get caught embarrassed, he broke the gaze by staring back down at the flower in his hands. A white tulip. He nearly groaned out loud. _'Of all flowers it has to be this one.'_

Both stood there for a while without a word, contemplating what they should do next.

He twirled the flower carelessly in his hand.

She kept her hands together in front of her, silently fidgeting with her fingers.

Reluctantly and slowly, he took a step forward to her. He held out the flower to her.

Reno kept his head bowed low, not looking up.

Tifa looked at him in surprise at his gesture.

Her hand hesitantly took the flower from his hand.

**A/N: Alright, I know, I'm such a slacker for not updating at all. I'm sorry to everyone who had waited so long for this. Hopefully you guys would still be interested in the story...but if you're not, that's okay. It's my fault for slacking. I was just really busy with my internship and all, kinda takes up most of my time and energy. Anyway, this chapter hasn't really been checked/edited/proof-read yet, so I apologize for the mistakes if they are any. Just didn't want to make you guys wait too long for it. Thanks to all who reviewed. Also, happy new year to everyone.**


	8. Chapter 8

The sable haired girl stared at the lone stalk sitting in a tall glass. She couldn't find a vase for it and since it was just one, she decided to place it in a glass instead.

She blew the stray lock of her hair away from her face only to let it fall back onto her face. She exasperatedly pushed it back and tucked it behind her ear, contemplating if she should just cut it short to ease the irritation of her hair always getting in her face.

Her fingers reached out to touch the soft petals of the flower. She could just smell its sweet distinct smell even from a distance. For the fourteenth time that night, she sighed.

Tifa got up to her to piano, hoping to play a tune or two that could somehow soothe her nerves.

She pressed a key and didn't let go. The sound of the single note covered the silence that had filled the room. Her middle finger then fell to the next piano key. Soon after, the rest followed.

A memory crept into her mind and with a frustrated groan she stopped playing abruptly. She remembered that not too long ago, someone else had sat right beside her on this very bench and had played a tune of his own. She had listened to the sound of his playing and allowed herself to let her guard down. And then came the question, the one that turned everything around.

"How did it get so complicated? Or is it just me?" She said softly into dark of the night.

----------------------------------

"Okay, so what's the deal?"

She cringed at the sound of his voice and willed herself not to turn around.

"Stop avoiding me."

"I'm not." She answered with a calm tone of voice that she could possibly muster under the current circumstances.

"So look at me."

"I'm busy." Her answer was followed by the sounds of the glasses clinking loudly, hoping she could back up her answer with the act.

Few seconds passed without a response from him.

Suspicious, she decided to turn around to see what he was up to, only to find herself face to face with him. She jerked back in surprise and he quickly grabbed her by the arm to stop her from falling behind.

Tifa felt her breaths getting short and rapid. Her skin tingled at his touch and her stomach was squirming in the insides.

"Tifa…" he began.

"Reno." She interjected before he could complete his sentence. "Please. Don't. Don't say anything. Not now, alright?"

A sudden flash of hurt appeared in his blue eyes but it quickly faded.

Reluctantly, he let her go from his grip and took a step back.

Realizing she had probably hurt his feelings, she shut her eyes for a quick moment as she took a deep breath before opening them again, only to find him gone.

With a groan of frustration she quickly untied the apron around her waist and tossed it onto the counter as she rushed out of the door.

"Looking for me?"

Tifa stopped abruptly at the sound of his voice from behind her. She whirled around to see him leaning against the outside wall of her bar.

"Reno!"

He smirked.

"At least this way I'd know how much I actually mattered to you."

"It's not funny."

"I didn't say it was."

Tifa bit her lip, not knowing what else to say.

"Look, I don't get it. What is your problem? You took off last night after taking the tulip from my hand without a word. You didn't pick up when I tried to call you. You ran off to the other direction when you saw me coming from the other way this morning. And now?" He clucked his tongue. "I don't know what the hell you are trying to do."

"I was just…" Her mind searched for an excuse.

"Save it Lockheart. If you think I'm such a screwed up jackass that you don't want to be with and have no feelings for, then say so. I can take it. I am a big boy after all." He said with a tone of sarcasm in his last sentence.

"It's not that! Why do you have to say things like that? Why do you have to make it so difficult for me? You are right about yourself being a jackass!"

Reno stared at her in shock at her outburst.

"I never said I didn't have feelings for you, though I didn't say I did either, but that does not mean you can just come over and say stupid things to me all because I am confused about my feelings!"

Reno snorted and looked away.

"What?" She asked exasperatedly.

"Nothing." He said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Tifa felt herself fuming inside, almost ready to throw a punch at him and to sock another few punches at his gut. Instead, without another word, she stomped on her feet and quickly walked the other way.

Reno looked up to see her leaving and quickly got onto his feet to catch up with her.

"Tifa!" He called out.

She kept walking, increasing her speed with every step she took.

"Tifa!"

She couldn't see a reason for her to stop. She could hear his walking pace increasing as she increased hers. Soon her feet started to carry itself and started running.

"Fuck." Reno muttered. _'I have to literally chase her now?'_

Despite his thoughts, he began to run all the same.

He was a fast runner and he knew that would be an advantage on his side. He quickened his running speed and started to gain on her.

A kid suddenly appeared in the middle of his path causing him to put a brake but it was so sudden that he lost balance of himself and thus losing his footing in the process.

"Woah."

Tifa turned back in time just to see Reno fell with a loud thud onto the hard concrete.

"Are you okay sir?"

"You hurt, son?"

Reno quickly shook his head and tried to get up to get away from all the sudden attention.

As he pulled himself up, he took a quick survey of himself before looking back up, and finding her standing in front of him.

----------------------------------

"Are you okay?" She asked softly as she eyed him.

"Yeah."

"Did you get hurt?"

"Yeah. My ego and pride was severely bruised back there. Did you see how I fell? Wiped flat-out like a klutz in the middle of nowhere in front of practically everyone in town. Yeah, that sure boosted my ego alright. " Reno answered.

Tifa couldn't help but roll her eyes at the typical Reno response. A smile crossed her lips, followed by a giggle.

Reno looked at her pointedly.

She looked away to keep from laughing but the laughter came out anyway. Soon she was laughing so hard that she could barely stand properly.

It was Reno's turn to roll his eyes. He obviously couldn't see what was so funny.

"I don't see the joke here."

Tifa just continued laughing.

"When you're done laughing, then come find me." Reno said in irritant and proceeded to walk away.

"No, wait."

He stopped in his tracks and looked at her over his shoulder.

She took a deep breath to regain her composure before walking over to him.

"I'm sorry, it was just that…well, nevermind."

Reno snorted in response.

"I know, I shouldn't laugh. It was just funny for a moment there." Tifa said apologetically.

"Well the moment's come and gone."

"Okay, can we talk then?"

"Like I just said. The moment's come and gone."

Tifa stared at him with her jaw hanging lightly at his response.

"Too bad." Reno said with a smirk.

With that, he turned around and walked away.

It wasn't until a good minute had passed that he suddenly heard her shouting.

"See Reno? This is exactly why I won't let myself to like you. You were a jerk and you still are. Nothing and no one's going to change that. So if you want to be that way, then keep it that way. Be the jackass you want to be Reno. Cause I don't care anymore and I'm sorry I had cared before but I'm not going to anymore!"

Reno flinched at her last words. The words stung him and a pang of hurt was felt in his heart. He inwardly cursed himself for feeling that way. He quickly turned around to face her once again.

"You know what? Don't act like you're some fucking angel either. It's not like no blood was shed in your hands before. And it's not like you've never been mean to anyone or ever hurt someone's feelings. Cause you know what? You just did. You just fucking hurt my feelings, so good for you Lockheart. I hope you're happy with that."

It felt good to release his anger that way. Right then, he couldn't care less if she was not going to be too happy with his words or not.

Tifa glared at him with pure anger.

He smirked at her reaction.

"Have a good life Lockheart. You don't have to care about me anymore cause I'm not going to stick around here anyway. Have it your way." He added.

He was about to give a forced laugh to prove he really didn't care, but he caught sight of a single tear falling from her dark eyes. Guilt immediately crossed him.

"It's not like that Reno…it's not…" She said so softly that it was barely audible for his ears.

Reno sighed deeply and took a few steps toward her.

"Tifa." He paused to think of the words to say.

"I am…well, you know, what I want to say." He couldn't bring himself to apologize, not yet, not right now. He never apologized to anyone, even if he did, it was a sarcastic one.

"But there's no shit that I can do to be this perfect guy for you like old spiky is. And if you can't take that, then…that's nothing left to say. Right?"

"Reno, you don't even know how I feel yet. But you just…" Tifa's voice trailed off.

"So tell me how you feel and we'll end this once and for all."

"I can't. Don't you understand? I was scarred before, that's not the most encouraging thing for me to get into another relationship. I'm just… well, scared."

Reno shook his head in frustration and disappointment.

"I can't figure out just yet how I am feeling and what it is that I want, but…" She continued but Reno interjected midway.

"This is all damn twisted and I can't figure out crap. These feelings? They are foreign to me. So when you think about yourself being the sad pathetic one here, think about how I feel. Just think about it Tifa. And at least I took the chance, unlike you…you back out, all because you are scared. Well, let me tell you one thing, the Tifa Lockheart I knew?"

Tifa looked up at him.

"She wasn't scared of anything." He stated and with a final shake of his head, he turned on his heels and walked away.

"Reno!"

Reno forced himself to stop again. He was getting sick and tired of all this. Were they ever going to quit this fight?

"Tifa, when you find your answer, then find me." He said bitterly without looking back. "Until then, find yourself first."

Before she could respond, Reno took off, leaving her behind staring after his figure.

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**Okay, finally I managed to come up with something. Honestly, I didn't really had an idea in mind when I started typing this so it just went with whatever my mind came up with as I typed. And I think I kind of like the outcome actually. Anyway, thank you to those who have reviewed and read my fic. I also realize I've never really thanked those who have this fic up on their fav/alert list, so thank you so much for that, I really appreciate it. Almost forgot, to _AniGirl 7_, thank you for being such a nice reviewer, and of course I'd care if you are mad about me not updating soon enough. You are after all one of my loyal readers and for that, I definitely take interest into your comments and all. )  
**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

There were no teasing remarks, no flirty comments, no lame jokes and no sarcastic answers. No sight at all of the flaming red hair and the pair of aqua blue eyes that revealed the inner depths of the owner's soul.

She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but deep down inside, there was a missing void. She lied saying that she didn't care, never did but she's never good at lying to herself, especially herself.

Being the stubborn person, or determined as she would prefer to put it, that she is, there was no way she would take the first move and find him.

'_It's not like I have anything to say to him either'_, she reasoned herself.

'_When you find your answer, then find me. Until then, find yourself first.' _

The words echoed in her mind ever since it left his lips days ago.

She snorted at the thought and shrugged it off. Grabbing her jacket, she started her walk out into the cloudy morning.

What's there for her to find? She knew by experience that every time she seek to find answers, she never got them. Or every time she seek for something she longed for, she never got them. Reassurance, acceptance, security, comfort…love. She gave them out but never really got them back. Maybe those are all that she's finding for.

The cold wind blew past her and swept her hair forward, covering her view. Gently, she pushed her hair back and took out an elastic band from her pocket before sweeping it up to tie a messy ponytail.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a figure staring at her. She glanced over to look only to see the lone figure by the alley look away. Unshaved with a rugged look, he wore a long shabby brown jacket with his unruly dark hair getting more messed up due to the wind.

Tifa proceeded on her way without a second thought.

At the back of her mind she tried to squash the thought that kept trying to pop itself out. She shut her eyes tight and willed hard for it to just leave her mind alone. It wouldn't.

'_You wish it was his blue eyes that were staring at you back there.'_

Defeated, she let out a long sigh as she turned around a corner.

Hearing the sound of footsteps behind her, she threw a brief glance over her shoulder. The man from before seemed to have moved from his spot and was now staring into the window of a shop. That got her a little curious but she thought nothing of it, passed it off as a mere coincidence and continued walking.

It was rather early in the morning, 7am, a time where she would still be in bed after a late night of cleaning up at the bar. But she woke up at 6 that morning, unable to sleep, just like how it had been for the past few days. It had became a new sleeping routine for her whereby she would toss her tired self onto the bed at 1, rolled around until 2, fall asleep and only to wake up at 3.30 or 4 before rolling around helplessly in her bed for another hour, fall asleep and be fully awake at 6.

Her eyes once again caught sight of the man who now seemed to be following her every direction. When she turned left, so did he. When she stopped, so did he. Feeling a little suspicious, Tifa increased her walking pace.

She could hear the footsteps from behind increasing their pace as well.

That was it. The man was obviously following her.

Tifa hurried her way down the street and went over to the fountain, made a big round as she kept her glance sideways to watch if he was still following. He was.

She continued walking, rounded another corner before she hurried into a barely opened shop and hid herself behind the shelf as she watched through the glass doors. The lady of the shop stared at her strange behavior to which she responded with her index finger placed to her lips. The lady shrugged and continued her task of opening for the day.

The man stopped outside the shop, looked around the street before he walked over to the opposite side of the road. Once there, he looked up and down the street again.

"What are you doing following me like that?" Tifa mumbled to herself as she kept her eyes on the man.

She sure as hell didn't recognize him from anywhere and even if he was one of her customers from the bar, he didn't have a reason to follow her around either.

Tifa stayed in the shop a little while more until the man went out of her sight. Feeling safe, she stepped out of the shop and cautiously went on her way. She could have easily took the guy on and gave him a punch that was sure to be a good forewarn for him to not try anything stupid with her, but she didn't. Being the person that she is, she had decided to give the man the benefit of doubt, that it was nothing but coincidence and her lack of sleep was really getting her imaginations to run wild.

However, as soon as she took it was safe, she heard footsteps from behind her again. This time, she didn't look around to see if it was him. From her previous experiences, she can easily remember the sound of an enemy's footsteps. She quickened her pace with the intention of breaking into a run and losing him around the next corner.

When she reached the corner, she had been walking so fast that she didn't see where she was going and slammed right into a person from the opposite direction.

"Ouch!"

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I didn't see where…" Her voice trailed off as she lifted her head to see who it was.

The blue eyes stared right back into her own brown ones.

"You alright?" He asked with a suspicious look. Her hands that were on his chest seem to be slightly trembling and she was visibly shaken.

"There's someone following me." She said in a low whisper as she kept her gaze into his eyes.

He lifted his blue eyes from her briefly and caught sight of a rugged man who was staring into a shop window, less than a few meters away. He watched as the man shifted nervously in his weight as he stared distractedly into the shop. That gesture was more than enough to tell that the man had indeed been following Tifa from before.

"Yeah, you're right about that." He said in a low voice.

Tifa didn't turn around to see if the man was still there. Instead, she fixed her gaze on the one in front of her.

"You want to take him on?" He asked, still in a low voice.

No answer.

"Come on." He said as he protectively placed his left arm around her and pulled her close to him. Her cheeks grazed the collar of his striped dark blue shirt and she felt a slight blush rise in her cheeks. He gently led her away while keeping a side glance at the shop windows to keep an eye on the man.

The man, thinking he had went unnoticed, continued to follow them.

Meanwhile, no words were exchanged between the two as they continued walking.

"You're shaking." His voice was barely above a whisper as he broke the silence between them.

"I'm…not." She answered in an equal tone of voice.

He debated if he should prod further, but decided not to.

"We're going to ambush him alright? Find out what the little bastard wants." He said in a low voice.

She barely nodded in response.

Both quickened their pace and headed into an alley. The man unsuspectingly followed their pace. He stopped short when he reached the alley and saw Tifa standing there alone, staring back at him.

The man was about to take another step forward but he felt a sudden violent push from the side and before he could react, he was menacingly shoved up to the wall and was held back with a hand grabbing him by the collar tightly.

"What the fuck is your problem? Why the hell were you following her?" The red-haired barked.

"I…I…" The man stumbled, clearly not expecting the sudden attack.

"You better give me a hell of a good reason or I'm going to hurt you so bad that you're going to wish you weren't born."

"Reno." Her voice was soft and barely audible, but he somehow caught it anyway.

He threw a glance towards Tifa.

"Don't. Let him go."

Reno shot her a disbelief look before glaring back at the man before him.

"Stay away from her. You better not let me see you following her again or I'll be sure to hunt for your blood. And that's a promise." He threatened.

The man quickly nodded and scrambled clumsily as Reno released him from his grip.

"Thank you." Tifa spoke up again.

"It's nothing. You don't have to thank me." Reno answered with his gaze on the wall.

She took a few steps forward which caused him to shift his glance to her.

Before either one could say anything, a thunder flashed above them followed by the deafening sound and the pouring of rain. It started out lightly but soon became heavier.

Reno shrugged off the shirt he was wearing, revealing the light grey T-shirt he was wearing, before quickly walking towards her and holding the shirt over her head to keep her sheltered.

"Come on! You're going to get sick again!" He shouted over the heavy sounds of the rain.

They both started to run as they struggled to see in the heavy rain. His shirt over her head was starting to get soaked wet, defeating the purpose of sheltering her from the rain.

"Where are we heading to?" She shouted.

"My place! It's closer!" He answered back.

They soon reached a tall silver building and he quickly ushered her in. They both stepped into the elevator and he pressed the button for his floor.

Tifa started to squeeze out the water of her clothes as Reno lightly shook his head to get the water out. Compared to Tifa, Reno was a soaked duck with his clothes sticking to him like tight wrap and his messy red hair all over the place and over his eyes.

She snuck a glance at him and immediately felt bad at the sight of him wet.

A soft 'ding' was heard, signaling they had reached their floor. They stepped out with Reno leading the way to his apartment. He reached into his pocket and struggled to pull out his keys from his wet jeans.

As they got in, Reno immediately disappeared into one out of the two rooms in the apartment. Tifa took in her surroundings and noted that although it was small, but it was cozy and more than enough for one person anyway. The apartment however, was also rather messy with empty pizza boxes, cans, magazines, cushions flung all over the place. It wasn't a surprise to her though, as she remembered the mess he made in her kitchen a few weeks ago. She mentally reminded herself not to step into his kitchen as she could only imagine how much worse it would probably be.

He stepped out of the room with two towels in his hand and tossed one to her. Tifa adeptly caught it and proceeded to dry her hair with the towel.

"You can take a shower or something if you want to. The bathroom's in my room though. I left a shirt and a pair of shorts on the bed…mine, but you can wear them if you want to." He offered without looking at her.

"Thanks."

Reno nodded and walked over to the sliding glass door that led to a small balcony. He stared out into the heavy rain.

"It looks like it's more of a storm." Tifa spoke up.

"Yeah."

"Reno?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

He sighed and turned around to face her.

"You don't have to thank me so many times you know?" He said with a raised eyebrow.

She crossed the room and made her way towards him.

"I know. But you're always…saving me, someway or another."

He let out a low chuckle.

"Am I?" He cocked his head to think and remembered the time when she bumped into him and nearly fell down…their first encounter after everything that happened, and today... "It was only twice." He stated casually.

"Actually, it was five."

Reno looked at her in surprise.

"There was the time when I was being pathetic over Cloud. You were there to…well, comfort me. I could have just gave in to another crying mess again but you stopped me from going there. And then there was the time when I was sick."

"Oh." Reno was at loss for words to say. He mentally reprimanded himself for being such a tongue-tied loser whenever he was around her.

"When was the fifth time?"

"When I was craving for lime ice cream. You got it for me, and that was twice actually." She answered almost embarrassedly and looked down to the floor.

A small smile crossed his face at the memory.

She looked back up at him and took a step closer.

Aware of her sudden close proximity to him, Reno almost took a step backward in surprise.

She reached up and gently brushed his hair that was matted by the rain, from covering his eyes.

He could only stare at her she slowly smiled at him.

"It's a shame to let your hair cover those blue eyes." She said softly.

It took all the effort and restraint in him to not lean over and kiss her there and then as much as he would like to. After being shot down twice, it was more than enough for him. She had made it clear the other day that she wasn't ready for a relationship or him, for that matter.

Their gaze locked on each other, neither looked away or said anything.

Tifa could feel her insides squirming as she let her hand dropped to her side. She was half-expecting him to kiss her or at least something, but he did nothing.

'_Do I look that horrible when I'm all wet?'_ She wondered.

She bit her lower lip and gathered whatever courage that was left in her. Slowly she pushed herself up by her toes, she leaned over to his right side and gave him a kiss on the cheek before quickly fleeing the scene and into the bathroom.

Reno stood there rigidly in disbelief at what had just happened.

'_Did she just…kiss me or am I getting sick from the rain that I'm actually hallucinating?'_

Back in the bathroom, Tifa tried to breathe normally again. She stared at herself in the mirror and watched the goofy grin formed on her face.

His reaction was absolutely unexpected but funny.

She reached to the bottom of her sleeveless top in an attempt to take it off and have a nice warm bath, until she realized that she did not grab the clothes he had left for her on her mad dash for the bathroom.

Silently, she clicked the lock open and opened the door, hoping to not bump into Reno just yet. She had no idea what she would say to him if she did.

Thinking the coast was clear, Tifa stepped out of the bathroom, turned towards the bed on the other side of the room to grab the clothes, only to find a shirtless Reno taking his jeans off.

A shriek escaped her lips at the sight of him.

Reno whipped around in surprised and almost fell over with one leg caught in his jeans and the other trying to catch his balance.

"Fuck!"

Tifa quickly grabbed the clothes from the bed and dashed back into the bathroom as she heard a loud thump hit the floor.

Reno groaned out loud.

'_Why did she had to have such a bloody bad timing?'_

He pulled himself up and kicked his jeans aside before pulling a dry, clean one over. _'She didn't have to shriek, I'm not that bad to look at, and besides…I wasn't even naked. Weird woman.' _He mused.

Reno grabbed a plain white t-shirt from his closet before heading out of his room as he chuckled to himself.

* * *

**A/N: I got this typed up in one sitting cause it was actually based on something that happened to me earlier today, but less freaky and minus the whole Reno part (how I wish). Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as it's finally some sort of a nice, happy ending for the chapter…none of the whole arguing drama. To _AniGirl7 _&_ RebelliousNekoAngel _I hope you both will like/enjoy this chapter, cause I know you've both wanted a nice ending for a long time and I'm sorry that it took so long.  
Thank you to everyone who has been loyally reading this fic and to those who reviewed too and also to those who read and don't review (it's okay though, I understand, I get lazy or just am not in the mood to leave a comment or two sometimes, hehe). Sounds like this is the last chapter I'm writing does it? Lol. Well not really, I think there will still be a few more chapters, unless you guys think this is a good enough ending, then I'm happy to oblige. Lol**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Tifa quietly made her way out of the room and slowly padded out into the living room. She had never felt more self-conscious than she ever did now.

'_Stop it Tifa. Don't be stupid.'_

While in the shower, she recalled the earlier incident of her accidentally catching him changing his clothes and realized she had overreacted by being such a doofus. It wasn't like she had never seen Cloud changing his clothes before while they were on those long journeys and one had to simply make do with whatever you have.

'_Not that I've seen Cloud more than half-naked like that. Have I?'_

She quickly shook her head to get rid of the thoughts.

Her brown eyes scanned the quiet room, besides the sounds of the roaring thunder and heavy rain outside, for Reno.

From the back of the couch she caught sight of his red hair spilling over at one end of the couch.

Tifa cautiously took a few steps closer.

He was lying down on the couch with one arm draped over his face, covering his eyes as the other lay on his stomach.

"Are you…alright?"

Her voice was barely above a whisper.

He didn't reply. She tried again.

"Are you alright?" She asked a little louder than before.

Reno barely mumbled something in response.

Her eyebrow shot up in question.

"Reno?"

Again, he gave a barely audible response.

She sighed and leaned over the couch to catch what he was saying. He mumbled again.

"I don't feel so cool?" She repeated in confusion.

Reno removed his arm from his eyes and sighed exasperatedly.

"I said," emphasizing 'said' with a glare, "I don't feel so good."

"Oh."

It was only then that she noticed he was paler than usual and his lips looked a little blue. Her hand reached over to feel his forehead.

"Reno, you're sick. You're having a fever."

"Wow. Holy Chocobos. She makes the discovery of the year." He answered sarcastically as he turned over on his side.

She bit her lip to prevent herself from giving a comeback of his sarcasm. She wasn't going to argue with a sick person.

"Do you need a doctor?"

"No."

"Then did you take any medicine for the fever?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Just because."

Unsatisfied with his answer, she went around the couch and bent down on her knees to be on the same height level as he was.

Reno turned around to face the other way.

"Reno." She said in a warning tone.

"What?"

"Why don't you want to take something for your fever?"

"I said I just don't want to. Leave me alone."

"I can't leave you alone. Your fever will get worse."

No answer.

She eyed him and noticed he was shivering slightly.

"Reno…" She tried again.

"Go away."

"Fine." She replied in annoyance.

If he didn't need her help, then she wasn't going to help him. She stood up and briskly walked away to head back to the room.

"Stupid red-head." Tifa mumbled under her breath.

She stepped into the room that was Reno's and flopped down on the bed. Her eyes closed.

'_His bed's so comfortable.'_

Tifa crawled under the sheets, squirmed, stretched and moved around to make herself feel more at ease and to find a comfortable position. Finally satisfied with a position, she settled into the pillow and closed her eyes again, hoping to get some sleep.

Just as she closed her eyes, an image of Reno popped into her mind. She tried to erase the image in her mind but it was no use. Her conscience was bugging her like hell and it wasn't going to leave her anytime soon.

She sighed dejectedly and sat up.

'_Alright. Fine.'_

Walking back into the living room, she peeked over the couch to find Reno hugging himself to keep himself warm. She carefully threw the duvet over his shaking body.

Feeling the sudden warmth, Reno's eyes opened to find Tifa standing behind the couch, looking at him.

"Whether you like it or not, I am going to take care of you and help you get better. So keep all your sarcastic remarks to yourself and go to sleep. I will wake you up when it's time to eat and to take your medicine."

Reno opened his mouth to protest but she quickly continued before he could say anything.

"I know, you don't like medicine. And if I didn't know any better, I'd say you're deathly afraid of medicines and doctors. However, since you're sick, I will not embarrass you and only hold you to that later when you get better. Now shut up and get back to sleep."

With that, she headed into kitchen, leaving Reno to stare wide-eyed at her words.

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"Reno. Hey…"

His blue eyes groggily opened at the sound of his name.

"Hey, wake up."

Tifa gently shook him on the shoulder.

"You need to eat something. Come on."

She carefully pulled him up and helped him to sit up.

Reno's eyes slowly scanned his surroundings, not exactly remembering why she was with him in the first place. His eyes widened at the sight before him.

What was once 'his' place with all the mess was now, immaculately clean. He swore it was so clean that the dust would probably be afraid to show up there.

'_What the hell did she do?' _

"Here."

He eyed the bowl that was being held out in front of him.

"It's chicken soup. Only more chicken soup-like and less salt and what-nots." She answered with a smirk.

Reno almost blushed at the reminder of his sad pathetic attempts of cooking.

He took the bowl from her without a word.

"Okay, I didn't know if you were the type of guy who would go nuts if someone else other than yourself touched your things, but I just thought that cleaning up this place would make this a better and healthier place for a person to actually live in. And I promise, I did not mess anything else up and did not go through your stuff either."

He nodded in response.

"Good. Now once you're done with that," Tifa pointed to the bowl in his hands, "you're going to have to take this here." She held up a tiny white sphere to let him see.

He shuddered at the sight of it, to which unfortunately for him, she had seen and started to giggle as he glared at her.

"It's not funny to laugh at a sick person you know?"

"I'm sorry, but how old are you to be afraid of medicine? Or better yet, a single, small, defenseless thing." She replied in between laughter.

Reno's face went red at her comment.

"I just have a bad history with medicine."

"Oh yeah? How bad could that be?"

"You don't stop once you get hold of something like this don't you?"

She grinned and shook her head.

"No, not really." She replied innocently.

He sighed and knew he was in for a deep grilling.

"Come on, tell me."

Tifa looked at him with anticipation.

"No." He said as he turned away from her gaze.

"Oh come on. Don't be such a wet blanket Reno. I promise I won't tell anyone else."

"You make it sound like it's a big secret."

"Is it not?" She teased.

He groaned in frustration, not believing that he had gotten himself in such a situation.

Outside, the storm was brewing and it looked like it was getting worse by the hour.

She crawled into the couch next to him and made herself comfortable by taking a share of the duvet.

He turned to look at her, slightly surprised with her actions. The sable-haired girl only looked back at him with a mischievous grin and what seemed like a sparkle in her eyes. She looked like a five year old on Christmas morning.

"Tell me. Quick!" She ordered.

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

Before he could say anything, a loud clasp of thunder was heard before a click sound followed and the lights went out. Saved by the thunder.

"Reno?" Tifa spoke out in the dark.

"Yeah. I think the storm hit the powers or something."

"Do you have candles?"

"Oh sure. I carry them everywhere with me. In fact, I probably have some in my pocket right now. Let me check my detailed list of candle supplies beforehand." He replied.

Tifa answered his sarcastic remark with a smack of her hand on his arm.

"Ow!"

"Nice one smart-ass. Now, where are the candles?"

Reno rubbed his arm and stared at her irritably in the dark. Though he can't really see her, but he could well make out her figure.

"It's in one of the…"

"One of the…?" She prodded.

"Uh…"

Reno squinted to think. He suddenly realized he had no idea where was what in his apartment.

"Let me guess, you don't know where you had put the candles."

Even in the dark, Reno could make out the annoyed look on her face. He smiled.

"You're hopeless." She declared as she pushed the duvet off herself.

He heard her feet touched the floor as she slowly made her way to the shelf drawers located nearby. A few rustling and slamming sounds filled the dark room.

"Found it?" He questioned.

"Nope."

Tifa brushed her hair back exasperatedly and tried to figure out where he could have possibly kept the candles in his apartment.

"Do you even have candles?" She asked out loud.

"Yeah. One…"

"One?" Tifa repeated.

"Uh, maybe two or three." He quickly replied.

"It better be."

"You know, you're scary when you're mad."

"Good to know."

Deciding not to say anything else, Reno continued with his chicken soup as Tifa continued with her candle-hunting.

Moments later, a faint glow appeared from the kitchen.

'_Must have found her candles.' _Reno thought.

A sudden loud crash was heard from the kitchen, followed by a short scream.

Reno quickly tore himself away from the couch and rushed to the kitchen.

A broken glass that was once filled with water and a crouching brown-haired girl was on the floor.

He carefully made his way over to her.

As he got closer, he realized it was not just water on the floor, but the glistening of something red as well, blood.

"Tifa!"

Tifa looked up with tears in her brown eyes.

Reno crouched down next to her to check the damage. She slowly removed her hands to reveal a deep cut on the sole of her left foot. Blood was oozing out of the wound as Reno quickly grabbed hold of a kitchen towel from one of the drawers and wrapped it tightly around the wound, hoping to stop the blood flow.

"It hurts." Tifa whimpered softly.

"Can you stand?"

She quickly shook her head.

Reno took the blood-tainted towel away and examined her foot closely.

"Fuck. A shard of glass is in the wound, that's why it's hurting you so badly. We need to take it out."

"No!"

Reno looked up at her in surprise.

"I just…it will hurt a lot, won't it?"

"It will even more so if you don't take it out." He answered matter-of-factly.

The both of them looked at the wound again.

"Tifa. I have to take the shard out or else the bleeding won't stop. And if it doesn't stop, you and I both know what would happen. Just…trust me okay? It will hurt, but if you want, you can hold onto me. Still, no matter what, I am going to have to take that thing out. Okay?" He explained softly.

Tifa took a deep breath and slowly nodded.

"Good."

"Are you…are you just going to pull it out?" Tifa asked hesitantly.

"Hell no."

Reno stood up to one of the drawers, took out what looked like a scalpel and grabbed a lighter lying on the kitchen counter. He proceeded to disinfect the scalpel with the fire before grabbing a first aid box from the cabinet above.

"How do you have these stuff?" Tifa stared at the scalpel in his hands in disconcertment.

"Turk." Reno answered simply as he sat down beside her and placed the candle closer to them to get better light.

He swiped the blade with a cotton that was dabbed with a little alcohol after gently disinfecting the area with the cotton. Reno looked back up at her.

"Ready?"

Tifa nodded and had one hand tugged onto the side of his t-shirt as another clenched on the floor. She bit her lower lip as Reno gently prodded the scalpel in to take the glass out. She bit harder when the blade made contact with the glass. A faint drip of blood appeared at her lower lip where she had bit too hard. Her grip on his t-shirt tightened.

Reno knew she was in pain and he wanted to end that pain for her as quick as he could. He hated seeing her in pain. The tears threatened to fall from her brown eyes but she looked determined not to let it fall. He carefully removed the shard of glass and quickly pressed a clean towel to the wound.

Reno felt a bead of sweat slide from his forehead. He breathed in relief and looked up at Tifa.

She was slowly taking deep breaths to calm herself down.

"I thought you'd have faced worst things than this." He joked in an attempt to lighten the situation.

"It still doesn't change the fact that it hurts whenever one gets injured. You can never get used to the pain."

He nodded in understanding.

Gently removing the towel away, he examined the wound.

"Looks like you don't really need stitches for that. But you should, just in case."  
Tifa nodded.

"However, I'm no pro at that. Heck, that was Rude's job. I hate the sight of needles."

She giggled slightly at his confession of weakness.

"Very funny Lockheart. Anyway, I'll just get this cleaned up and bandaged first. When the storm dies down, we'll go to a doctor."

Tifa just nodded again. She had never seen such a caring side of Reno before, other than the time she was sick. Never in her life did she imagine Reno with such a heart. He was always the arrogant heartless jerk in her mind, and it now made her felt guilty to have thought of him in such a way.

"Alright done. Now let's get you off this floor." He said as he stood up to put everything away.

Tifa carefully tried to get up without hurting herself even more. However, with the slightest weight on her foot, it made her winced in pain and she knew she couldn't stand up just yet.

Without a word, Reno crouched down with his back to her. He motioned with a hand for her to climb over.

"Reno…" She began.

"Come on. You're not going to walk with that foot."

Hesitantly, she pulled herself on top of him and allowed him to carry her on his back as they walked over to the dark living room. Reno carefully placed her down on the couch.

"Thanks."

He just nodded in acknowledgement.

"Where are you going?"

"To get the candle from the kitchen."

Reno appeared seconds later with the candle in hand. He placed it down on the table and settled himself into the armchair nearby.

"Why are you sitting there?"

"Why shouldn't I?"

"It's cold. I have the duvet here with me. The heater's died because of the storm and you're still sick. Withstanding the cold is not the most ingenious thing for you to do right now." She pointed out.

"Fine."

He trudged over to the couch where she was and sat down beside her. Tifa graciously shared the duvet with him. As she did so, Reno caught sight of her shaking hands when she moved the duvet over.

"You're really feeling cold aren't you?"

She smiled sheepishly.

"Freezing."

"I didn't know you were the kind who'd easily feel the cold."

"Well, now you know."

He smiled.

"Come here."

Reno pulled her over into his arms to provide some body warmth. Without any protest, Tifa just snuggled closer to him and rested her head on his chest, her arms wrapped around him.

"Better?"

"Much better." She answered softly.

Sighing contentedly, he had to admit, he actually enjoyed having her in his arms, but he wasn't going to admit that out loud to her.

On the other hand, Tifa was somewhat happy to be in his arms, not only because of the warmth, but also the feeling of security. The feeling came about when he had first placed his arm over her earlier that day when the weird man was following her.

Neither said anything for a while, both afraid to spoil the moment. Outside, the storm was still going on.

Tifa stared out into the stormy weather as did Reno.

"Hey." Reno finally spoke up.

She turned to look at him.

"So what was the kiss for anyway?" He asked with a mischievous smirk on his face.

Tifa immediately wished to crawl into a hole and never come out again.

"Come on, you can tell me. Don't be such a wet blanket Tifa. I promise I won't tell anyone else." He mimicked her earlier words.

"Shut up Reno."

He laughed.

So did Tifa.

"So?"

Tifa didn't answer but quickly looked away from his gaze.

"I'll take it that you like me?" He suggested mischievously.

"No, I don't." She mumbled.

"Really? Then why aren't you running away from me instead of still having your arms around me right now?"

She looked at him with a pointed stare.

'_Wrong words Reno.'_ He mentally scolded himself for being such an idiot.

"Sorry." He said, hoping to salvage the situation.

For a moment there he thought she would just walk away but as a small smile appeared on her lips, he knew he was safe.

"How do you know if you like someone Reno?"

Reno felt like an unexpected curveball was thrown right into his face at the question.

"I…don't know." He answered truthfully. "You just do? It's not like this is something anyone can just explain like that. It's not as simple as…as say, shooting someone…or stealing something."

Tifa made a face.

"Bad examples to compare with." She stated.

"Right."

She looked at him with a funny look.

"What?" He asked with eyebrows raised.

"You just said 'sorry' to me."

"When?"

"When you made that remark about me not running away, bla bla."

"I did?"

Tifa nodded and smiled.

"That's the first time I've heard you said the word 'sorry'."

"Oh." Reno said as the realization set on him.

"I can't believe I'm the lucky person to hear the famous never-ever-apologize Reno to say sorry. Wow." She teased.

"Ha-ha Lockheart. But don't shift the topic at hand. You can't avoid it forever."

Her face fell.

"I know."

"I'm not rushing you but…crap, this thing is really driving me insane. And if you don't tell me what is it that you feel or think or…"

"I like you."

Her voice was barely audible.

Reno froze and took a look at her. Tifa however, was too embarrassed to look at him, and just buried her face in his t-shirt.

"Did I just hear you say what I think I heard you say?"

She nodded into his t-shirt without a word.

"But I don't know if I heard that correctly. You wanna repeat that?"

She shook her head.

"Okay…well, I thought you said that you were going to have sex with me so if that's right then let's get it on."

"Reno!" Tifa protested with a horrified look.

Reno laughed.

'_Some people will never change.'_ Tifa mused.

"I said, I like you. Not I am going to have sex with you. That's 8 words by the way, 'I like you' has 3 words, so unless you're really deaf then I can't see how you can get it mixed up and come up with that."

"Well, at least I got you to say what I wanted to hear." He replied with a smirk.

"Shut up." She said lightly with an embarrassed smile on her face.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you to all who reviewed, you guys just make my day. Be it short or long, the reviews are definitely encouraging and sweet. So, here's a new chapter and sorry it took me so long to update this, but I think this is the fastest update I ever had in a while. Lol.**

**Half of me likes this chapter, and the other half doesn't. It seems like there's something off about it but I don't know what. Anyhow, I hope you guys will enjoy it and if it reeks, lol, sorry for the dissapointment. Sometimes I just want to write something really good...I have it my mind but I can't put it down in words so it would sometimes come out differently than intended. Enough of my ramblings anyway. Have a nice day people and thanks for reading!**


	11. Short drabble

_Short Drabble (7 June 2006)  
_

* * *

"And you!" Cloud exclaimed as he shot the guy before him a deathly glare. "You…" 

"I'm her boyfriend." He stated matter-of-factly.

"You're her boyfriend, right…" Cloud nodded and turned before suddenly whipping round to look at him in the eye. "Wait, did I just hear that correctly?"

A look of disbelief and confusion was apparent on Cloud's facial features.

The corner of Reno's lips curved into a smirk.

"That is not possible!"

"And why's that?"  
"Because you are Reno!" Cloud answered pointedly.

Reno snorted in response.

"You are our enemy!"

"Were." A soft voice spoke up, barely audible.

Both guys turned to face the owner of the voice. Tifa offered a small smile.

"Tifa…" Cloud's voice sounded strained. "Can we talk for a moment?"

Tifa nodded and shot a look at Reno, hoping he would get the clue. Reno shrugged good-naturedly and left the room without a backward glance.

"Tifa…" Cloud begin.

"Cloud. I know this is seemingly insane but it's not. I know what I'm doing."

"You do?" He raised an eyebrow as he tried to catch her eye.

Tifa looked away instead, looking at everywhere else except for his eyes.

"I don't think you do Tif. This is Reno we're talking about. Someone who's tried to kill us, me, you. Someone who probably didn't have a single conscience when he took the lives of the innocent."

"I know."

"The same person who was part of the gang who wanted to destroy everything good all for their own selfish reasons."

"Cloud, I know."

Cloud shook his head. He took a few steps closer to Tifa and carefully reached out for her, hoping she wouldn't back away. She didn't. He gathered her into his arms as her own went around his waist. Her head snaked onto the crook of his neck as he rested his chin on her head, slowly breathing in her familiar vanilla scent.

"I missed you." He whispered in a voice dripping with emotion.

The sable-haired girl said nothing in return as his arms wrapped themselves tighter around her.

"How are you holding up?"

"Pretty good. The bar's doing quite well, with Tristan and Mae helping out, it gives me a little less work." She softly answered, still in his embrace.

"That's good to hear. Has the others been here?"

"No."

Cloud gently pulled her away and gingerly lifted her chin with his finger to look at her in the eye. Her brown eyes were now shining with the tears so evidently present.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't be around."

She slowly shook her head with a small understanding smile.

"It's okay."

"No, it's not. I felt horrible when you left. Horrible that I couldn't be who you wanted me to be and do what you wanted me to do. I took you for granted when you were around, always assuming that you'd be there." He said it all in one breath.

Cloud felt like he was letting all his emotions out at once as he felt the air rushing from his lungs.

"I'm sorry I was an idiot who left you by yourself. Who made you cry and never did show you that I care." He continued.

"No wonder you decided to leave. And I don't blame you for that Tif. I was a horrible companion, wasn't I?"

Tifa shook her head. Gently, she took hold of his free right hand and looked at it tearfully. Cloud stared at her in curiosity. Without a word, she lifted his hand towards her face as she allowed her lips to gently brush against his knuckles.

"Tifa…"

"Cloud, it's okay. It was in the past. Let's just forget it alright?" She whispered as her brown eyes traveled its way from his knuckles to his mako-filled blue eyes.

He slowly nodded as he pulled her back into his arms to which she willingly obliged and allow herself to be held by him.

"I missed you too."

It was said in such a soft tone that he barely caught it. His only response was a gentle kiss onto her dark locks as his blue eyes closed, feeling the familiar comfort of her in his arms.

Standing in the darkness, behind the wooden door, another pair of blue eyes clouded over. The eyes were voided of any emotion as he forced himself to look away. Slowly, he made his way down the steps, careful not to make a sound which would allow the occupants of the room to know of his presence.

"Should've known." He muttered under his breath.

…………………………………………………………………………………

Tifa came down half and hour later with obvious red eyes, a tell-tale sign that she had been crying her heart out for the past few moments. Behind her, Cloud followed.

Reno barely lifted his head to acknowledge their presence. Instead, he stood up and walked to the door.

"Where are you going?"

He stopped in his tracks, not taking a look back, afraid of what he'd see. A face that would show concern, but concern in a way only a friend would, not as a lover would. Not the kind of concern that he had seen days before in her brown eyes.

"Out." He answered simply.

He heard her footsteps crossed the room towards where he was standing. Reno felt his back stiffened as her fingers wrapped themselves around his arm.

"Why?"

Letting out an unconcerned, unaffected laugh, he brushed his free hand through his hair.

"Just because."

"Reno…"

"You don't have to say anything Lockheart. I already know." His voice had a tone of bitterness, causing him to wince. He didn't want to let her know how he was feeling, he had vowed to himself that he would not show any weakness.

Her hand dropped from his arm. He felt his heart dropping with it. Part of him wished she hadn't done so, she would tell him to stay and not be stupid. He lingered for a moment or so, hoping for the words he longed to hear.

Silence.

That was all he needed. Reno took a deep breath and made his way to the door. As the door opened, his heart was still hoping for the voice to speak up. To say something. Anything. But there was none.

Taking one step forward, he decided that this was it, there was no turning back. For a brief moment there, he debated going back to her and plead, or at least convince, her to not make the decision that she did. He wanted her to choose him. He bit his lower lip and decided it was not going to change anything. With another step forward, he allowed the door to close behind him with a shut.

Without a look back, he walked away.

It was near Christmas and snow was falling, making it a wonderland joy for any little kid. The weather was cold enough where if you were to put a bucket of water outside for two hours, it would freeze over into ice.

Out in the winter coldness, he felt his own heart frozen over.

* * *

Note: This is just a filler piece, not exactly related to the current fic. I decided that I like it very much to dispose of it and also due to the very nice suggestion of Nando the RPS King, so yeah, it will remain here. Not exactly an alternate ending though, but just a short drabble of mine. Cheers! 


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The lazy patter of the raindrops outside stirred her awake. The cool, after-rain breeze blew in lightly from the ajar sliding glass door. Tifa slowly opened her brown eyes to take in her surroundings.

'_Where am I?'_

Her hands groped around for a feel of her surrounding when she touched upon something that didn't quite felt like the couch fabric. Instead it was soft and was actually moving in a slow upward-downward motion. With eyebrows knitted together in confusion, she slowly pulled herself up from her very much comfortable lying position, only to look into the face of the person that she had least expected she would ever fall asleep on.

His arms were lightly wrapped around her waist to which she regretfully pulled herself away from to get a better look at him.

He looked peaceful when he was asleep. His eyes closed with the crimson hair falling over in such a way that made him looked charming of some sort. A small smile played on his lips, no doubt he was having a good sleep. He didn't snore, to which she was thankful for.

The brown eyes continued to linger on his face a little longer as a smile tugged on her own lips.

'_He doesn't really look too bad when he wants to be.'_ She mused.

"You know, I'm not exactly complaining, but it's kinda creepy to know someone's watching you while you sleep."

Reno's voice was so sudden and unexpected that it surprised her and caused her to lose balance, falling off the couch with a loud thud.

"Ouch!"

Reno opened his eyes and laughed as he pushed himself up on one elbow. He stared down at her, his blue eyes sparkling with amusement.

"Quit laughing." Tifa retorted as she examined herself from the fall.

"Well sorry, Miss-I'm-so-clumsy-in-the-mornings."

He laughed again as she shot him a glare. Still laughing, he sat up from the couch and pulled her up clumsily, making her tumble over and fall onto him.

"I knew you like me, but I didn't know that you liked me that much to fall over me." He joked as he tried to wrap his arms around her once more.

She swatted his arms away from her huffily and turned the other way so he couldn't see the smile that was actually forming on her face.

"This is the treatment I get after keeping you safe from a crazy stalker, a thunderstorm, a broken glass shard and not to forget, allowing you to make a bed out of me by sleeping on me for the whole night, causing me a bad backache and…"

He didn't get to continue however, as a pillow smacked him right across the face followed by the sound of her laughter.

"You really gotta stop whining Reno."

A wolfish grin grew on his face.

"Is it just me, or it seems like someone's asking for a pillow fight?"

Eyes widened, Tifa slowly began to back away from him as she realized what he was about to do. Reno quickly grabbed hold of a pillow before aiming it at her. It hit her squarely on the face to which gave him the satisfaction and revenge he needed. Before he could say anything however, he was attacked with two pillows and a third one rapidly bonking him on the head.

"Wha…wait…aargh…"

His voice was drowned by the sound of her laughter and the whomping sounds of the pillow. Defenseless, Reno quickly groped around for something to retaliate. His hand reached hold of a pillow that earlier thrown on him and immediately began to defend himself by holding it over his head as a shield.

"That's not going to stop me." Tifa said over her laughter.

"Oh yeah? Well, maybe this will." With that said, he started his offense on her by rapidly hitting Tifa on the sides causing her to lose her balance and fall back onto the couch. He grinned as he quickly advanced on her and attacked her with his pillow.

"Aargh…stop…"

"Now who's pleading for mercy?" He grinned.

Tifa thrashed around the couch trying to defend herself at the same time, hoping to escape from his pillow. It wasn't an easy task however, with all the laughing, keeping her near breathless.

An idea suddenly occurred in her mind.

"Stop! Stop…my foot, it hurts…"

Almost immediately, the pillow stopped short from hitting her on the head for probably the 8th time in a row.

The aqua blue eyes quickly glanced down her legs to her bandaged foot. With the attention diverted, she quickly smacked him on the head with the pillow in her hands, causing him to fall back.

"Hey! That's not fair!" He protested.

"Too bad."

"That was a dirty trick to use." He pointed out with an unsatisfied look on his face.

"Live with it."

"Who'd ever guess Tifa Lockheart actually plays cheat." He said with a smirk.

"That was not cheating. It was a use of good tactic and the brains." She replied with a grin.

He snorted and turned his attention back to her bandaged foot. An awkward moment filled the room.

"Does it still hurt?"

His voice sounded concerned.

"A little."

Reno reached over to gently take hold of her foot and carefully examined it.

"Looks like you need a change of bandages."

She said nothing but only nodded. His displays of concern never failed to amaze her, due to fact that in the past it was severely lacking.

"I'll go get the bandage." He said as he stood up and made his way towards the kitchen.

Tifa fell back onto the couch and stared out onto the misty morning.

'_This feels a little weird. Being here, with him…caring for me, getting in a pillow-fight. If someone were to tell me a year ago, that this would happen, I'd probably be off thinking the person should be admitted to a mental asylum.'_

Her thoughts were interrupted with the sound of his footsteps coming back towards the couch. Without a word, he sat on the carpeted floor and took hold of her foot as he began to take off the bandages.

She watched him with a smile on her face. There was a look on concentration his face as he slowly unwrapped the bandage and examined the wound. With a swipe at the wound with a slightly moistened cotton for traces of dry blood, he grabbed the fresh bandages from his side and proceeded to wrap them around the wound.

"We should go see a doctor so he can check it or something." He said without looking up.

"Right."

Reno finished up with a snip of the cloth and clumsily tied the bandage together in a knot to hold it together.

"Well, I'll go change and then maybe we could grab a light bite before we head to the doctor's." He said as he stood up.

"Reno?"

His blue eyes met her brown ones.

She smiled. She didn't have to say anything, no words were needed. He smiled back and made his way to his room.

………………………………………………………

"So how am I supposed to walk again?"

Barely a few steps away to the door, Reno stopped and looked over his shoulder. She looked at him expectantly with her index finger pointed to her foot.

'_Right.'_

With a sigh, he made his way back to her. His glance shifted from her face to her foot and then back again. He sighed again.

"If you're making it sound like it's the most horrible thing in the world, then I could just call Tristan to come get me. Less the hassle for you." She stated simply with a shrug.

He looked at her with eyebrows raised.

"What?"

"Never mind. Don't bother Tristy boy, I'll take you to the doctor myself and drop you off at your apartment."

"It's Tristan."

"Whatever." He replied.

Reno crouched down in front of her and tapped on his shoulder, signaling her to get on his back.

"You know, it's really…"

"Really Lockheart. I've carried you once before, you'd think you'd get use to it by now."

Face flushed, Tifa pulled herself onto his back.

They made their way out of his apartment, into the lift and out, reached the outside, all with a just a solitary accidental bump of her head on the lift's door frame as they got out, earning him an earful of her grumbling.

"That was accidental."

"No, it wasn't and you know it."

"If I recall correctly, your neck isn't the one injured, you could have easily ducked as we walked out of the lift. But no, you had to have your head held up, all high and mighty." He retorted.

With narrowed eyes at his statement, Tifa quickly gave her comeback.

"If you had actually carried me carefully at a lower level then I wouldn't have to duck, thus avoiding hitting my head."

"Well, if _you_ hadn't been the clumsy person that you are then you wouldn't break the glass in the first place, cause your foot to be injured and me having to carry you and you bonking your head."

"Well, if _you_ were to remember where you placed the candles in the first place then I wouldn't break the glass in the dark kitchen, injuring myself, leading you to carry me and hit my head back there.

"If _you_ didn't have the insistence to search for candles in the dark in the first place then I wouldn't have to think about where the candles in my apartment were."

There was a brief moment of silence.

"That didn't really make sense." She spoke up.

"Yeah." He replied feebly.

"But it still isn't my fault that I bumped my head back there."

"Will you drop it Lockheart? It was your fault back there. Plain and simple. The end. Case closed. I win." He stated.

"No you didn't."

"Yes I did."

"You didn't."

"I did."

"No." Tifa replied testily.

"Yes." He answered lazily.

"No."

"No."

"Yes."

"Got you. You said 'Yes'." Reno grinned.

"That…that wasn't…"

"Give it up Tifa. I was right and you were wrong."

She huffed in response as he grinned in delight at beating her in her own verbal war.

………………………………………………………

Reno breathed in deeply and quickly released it as he felt the weight on his back again. He grimaced. This was becoming almost like a familiar routine for him, he could just imagine the horrible backache when he gets home later that night.

The rest of the trip to the doctor's had been less eventful than earlier. With a couple of stitches and new neater bandage, compared to his messy one, that was all she needed.

"What?" Tifa questioned innocently, as she noticed the grimace upon his face.

"Nothing." He quickly replied.

He wasn't complaining, not that he had anything to complaint about. In a strange way, he was more than glad to carry her around, it made him felt needed. She _needed_ him. Whoever would've seen that day coming? A light chuckle escaped his lips at the thought.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing."

Tifa glanced down at him with an inquisitive look. He said nothing but proceeded to walk, so she decided to let the matter drop, at least for now.

Minutes of silence passed between them. The silence, added with amused and curious glances from passer-bys, were more than enough to make Tifa squirmed uncomfortably.

Sensing her discomfort, he finally spoke up.

"Will you quit moving around? You're not exactly the lightest person around."

He was answered with a light slap on the shoulder.

"What was that for?" He exclaimed.

"For discreetly saying that I'm fat."

"Oh right, I forgot, no girls like being called fat. Be it discreetly or not." He muttered with sarcasm.

"Well, how would you like me to hear me say, 'You're not really that bad to look at, but still, I've seen better,'"

"Alright, that hurt."

"Figures. The one thing to bruise your ego is commenting you on your looks." She snorted.

"Well, look who's talking. With just a slight, _discreet_, comment on your weight and you go all girly on me."

"What was _that_ supposed to mean?" Tifa replied indignantly.

"What was _what_ supposed to mean?"

"Forget it." Under her breath she muttered, "Male chauvinist."

"Where to?"

"What?"

Reno smirked and turned sideways to look at her.

"I said, where to? Back to your apartment or the bar? Or do you want me to just drop you here and call Trissy to come get you?"

"It's Tristan." She reminded him in exasperation. It amazes her how he could never seem to get Tristan's name right.

"Whatever."

"Why don't you take into learning to call him by the right name?"

"Don't see the need to." He answered humorlessly.

"Just drop me off at the bar. _Tristan," _she emphasized on the name, "would be able to take me home later."

………………………………………………………

"What happened to you?" Mae exclaimed at the sight of Reno walking into the bar with Tifa on his back. Tifa shot a sheepish smile as she pointed to her foot. Mae's immediate reaction was to glare at Reno. If looks could kill, Reno would probably be six feet under the ground at that very moment.

"Don't give me that look. I didn't do anything to her." Reno defended himself as she shot him a disbelief look.

He gently eased Tifa down on a chair before stretching his back and arms.

"Are you alright?" Mae asked as she went over to Tifa.

Tifa nodded. Reno snorted.

"How come no one would ask me if I'm alright? I did carry a whiny brat all the way to the doctor's and back after all."

Both Mae and Tifa rolled their eyes at his dramatics.

"Are you alright Reno? Do you need an ice pack? Shall I get a nice fluffy cushion for you to lean on?" Mae asked sarcastically.

"That would be nice." He said with a grin.

"Dream on." She said.

Peeved, he waved his hand dismissively and sat down on the chair next to Tifa.

The two girls exchanged smiles before Mae headed to the back of the bar to continue her clean up.

"I never knew you could throw such tantrums." Tifa teased as she nudged him in the shoulder.

He shrugged and stared at the ground. At his lack of response, Tifa focused her attention to a spot on the wall, looking somewhat interested in it. Reno's gazed was fixed to the ground for the next few minutes before he finally spoke up.

"Where are we?" He asked.

"What do you mean? We're in…"

"I know where we are. I don't mean it literally." He interjected as he turned to look at her in the eye.

"Oh." Realization set upon her as she understood what he was referring to.

'_Why is he so unpredictable at times? One minute he's being the joker that he is and in another, he's all serious. And why do we keep coming back to this conversation?' _She sighed inwardly.

Her brown eyes diverted themselves from his blue ones and roamed the room, unsure of what to say. He bit his pale lip in slight frustration but said nothing.

Silence once again dawned on them.

"What if…" He paused midway, wondering how he should phrase his next words, "What if he comes back. Then what?" He asked slowly.

His heart was twisting as the words came out from his mouth, he awaited her answer with bated breath.

She shrugged.

'_Great. Just the answer I needed.'_ He thought. He sighed and looked down at his fingers. There wasn't really anything he could do, the decision was hers to make. He was a like yo-yo, hanging on the edge of the cord, feeling high one moment and down the next and it was all down to her to swing him the way she wants. Keep him or drop him. He hated feeling this way, but that was how it is. It's not her fault, it isn't his either, the feelings came knocking and he was the one who let it in, knowing the other possibilities that could happen.

"Reno?"

"If you'd like me to leave, I'm happy to oblige. No big deal."

The answer he got was a slap across the face. He faced her with a mixed look of anger and shock.

"What…"

"That's the reason why I didn't want to fall for you. Leave, no big deal!" She burst out. "That's it, that solves everything doesn't it? Don't you care enough to stay? You want to know what I'd like? I'd like you to stay and fight for me, despite the fact that I'm lost and unsure. If you leave, then I will forever be in the dark. Don't you get it?" She looked at him with glassy eyes, as the tears threatened to fall.

His blue eyes widened at her words, surprised and taken aback.

'_I forgot how scary she can get when she gets all worked up.'_

"I get it." He whispered softly as his fingers reached up to her cheek.

A solitary tear fell from her eyes and onto his fingertip. "Hey, don't cry." He pulled her into his arms and wrapped his in his embrace. "I'm not going to leave." He murmured into her hair.

She pulled herself away from his arms.

A dumbfounded look crossed his features at her sudden action.

"Why do you do this?" She asked.

"Do what?"

"Why do you bring _this_ up at times when everything seems normal and fine? Weren't we getting along well earlier? But then suddenly, out of nowhere, you just bring this up and…"

"Why are you getting upset over it?"

"Because it's unpredictable of you. It brings me off balance and then I get all mixed up and frustrated…"

"Look. I needed to know. That's why."

She shot him a frustrated look. He sighed.

"You know, I don't think that's what bothering you. There's something else to it. And I want to know, what is it?"

Reno looked at her intently, his eyes reflecting an inquisitive stare.

She found it hard to find her voice, much less look at him in the eye.

"I'm…a wimp when it comes to matters of the heart. Scared. That's it. You know that." She said, feeling stupid.

"I thought we solved that." He stated calmly.

"We didn't."

His stare diverted from her face and to the ground before looking back up at her again. With a determined look, he moved closer to her, their faces barely inches away from each other. Tifa was about to pull back but his hands made a quick grab onto hers to prevent her from doing so.

"What…"

"Shh."

She stared as he daringly inched closer, tilting his head slightly. Her senses immediately picked up a combination smell of fresh soap with hints of citrus blend. _'Must be the shower gel he uses.' _Tifa thought as she recalled seeing a silver-orange bottle sitting on the top rack in his bathroom the previous night.

His breath lightly tickled her nose as he took another inch forward. She could feel her heart beating furiously as her hands tried to gently pry themselves away from his. Reno's hands however, were adamant in keeping them where they were. She watched as his lips came closer to her own.

The blue eyes of his closed as he leaned in and covered the last inch between them.

Though startled, her eyes voluntarily fell shut as she felt his lips gently brushed against hers.

Unhurried, soft and sweet. Those were the words that Tifa could use to describe what was happening. There was no hurry, no force, but with emotion, an emotion that made his feelings for her clear.

Reno slowly pulled his lips away from hers.

"Trust." He whispered softly. "Just trust me."

A confused look appeared before the understanding of his words dawned on her.

"You're scared, because you fell out of trust for anyone but yourself. But you can't hide and run away forever. If you don't want to be left in the darkness, then you have to trust me. Trust me when I say I'm not going to leave and…that I like you."

He gave a small smile before letting go of her hands, leaving her free to leave if she wanted to, or if she really desired, to slap him.

She did nothing of the sort but kept her gaze on him.

Reno smiled and leaned closer once more. His lips captured her in another soft kiss before pulling away again.

"You didn't run away. You didn't pull back. That, was trust." He said

* * *

**A/N: Alright, what can I say about the short drabble/filler that I posted up a week ago...well, it was a little killer to me actually, cause I somehow felt a little pressured to write something good to top that. I really liked that short piece actually. That was actually my first time writing something along those lines,a difference from my usual style of writing. Anyway, I'm glad no one decided to kill me or anything for that, and no one hated Cloud either, like I said, he's a nice guy after all. Hehe. **

**Well, do appreciate this chapter and I _demand_ to know what you think about this chapter cause I got really stressed while writing it and it would definitely be comforting to know if my stress was worth it. The last scene was the biggest headache for me cause I just could not think of an ending and kept rewriting _over and over_ again. So, as aforementioned, leave me your comment and thoughts. I _demand_ you to! Lol, I'm just kidding. It's alright with me if you don't want to.**

**Out of curiosity though, I noticed that Ch6 received the _most_ reviews out of all chapters so far. To refresh the memory, it's the chapter with the piano scene and where Reno first asks Tifa about her feelings. And I'm really curious to know why so many of you enjoyed that chapter the best, cause this would definitely help me gain insight on my writing and readers' preferences. So, thoughts? Thanks for reading my ramblings, and of course the fic, have a good day. Oh yeah, last ramble, I noticed I have never really given an intro of myself, resulting nicknames such as 'blu' and 'mav' to turn up (lol), so feel free to call me Jess alright? Cheers!**


	13. Final Chapter

**Final Chapter**

The chilly wind gently caressed her cheeks. It swiftly brushed past, tugging on her sable hair as the street lights bath the couple in a light orange glow. The streets were empty at such an hour, the whistling of the wind was the only sound heard besides their footsteps.

Tifa lifted her hands and brought them together. She gently rubbed them to keep herself warm. It was unusually cold for the night. She carefully hobbled along on her two feet, one which was injured the night before. It was nothing serious, she could still walk though there were occasional tendrils of pain that shot up her leg.

Beside her, Reno walked at her pace. Every time she took a step, so would he. Their steps matched each others. A left of hers, a left of his. There was no hurry. He looked ahead, keeping his hands in the pocket of his jeans. Out of the corner of his blue eyes, he made sure Tifa was alright and she wasn't faking her ability to walk. He had offered a piggy-back ride but she had silently refused with a shake of her head.

Tifa could have just gone home with Tristan but she didn't. She chose to walk home instead, simply stating that the weather was too good to be riding in a car instead. When she got up to leave, Reno said nothing but just followed her. Throughout the journey, no words were exchanged but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. Each was contented to their own thoughts and feelings.

For Tifa, it was the feeling of calmness and security. Even if he wasn't touching her, she could feel his warmth from right beside her.

For Reno, it was the feeling of affirmation and hope. Even if she wasn't saying anything, he knows what she was thinking and it was alright for him to be walking next to her.

His took his hands out of his pockets and allowed them to hang by his sides.

She stopped rubbing her hands together and did the same.

Her left hand. His right hand. So close yet apart.

'What if…'

Tifa didn't need him to continue, she knew what he was trying to ask. However, she didn't say anything.

'What if I were to hold your hand. Hypothetically speaking. Would you, slap me?'

A chuckle escaped her lips.

He turned to look at her, as they continued walking.

'I doubt anyone would slap the person who tries to hold their hand.' She answered without looking at him. 'But of course, that's hypothetically speaking.'

'So hypothetically speaking, you wouldn't mind if I were to take your hand?'

'Hypothetically speaking, no.'

'But in reality…'

'Yes, I would probably slap you.' She answered with a deadpanned look.

Reno's face fell at the answer. He nodded and continued to look straight ahead.

…………………………………………

'Thanks for accompanying me home.'

Reno nodded. Still with the dejected look on his face.

'Are you okay?'

He nodded again.

'Right. I will see you around then.'

Just as she turned around to make her way to the main entrance which led to her apartment, a flash of lightning cast a sudden bright light across the dark skies. The sound of the thunder followed soon after.

At that very moment, Reno made up his mind. He quickly reached out to grab Tifa by the arm to stop her.

'Reno, what…'

She was silenced by the determined look on his face.

'I want to hold your hand.'

She stared at him in bewilderment. A light blush escaped to her cheeks at his words.

'Didn't you already did…a few times before?'

He shook his head, 'No I didn't. I mean I did. But that was just me holding your hand, you didn't hold mine. Your hand was in mine, but it's wasn't holding mine. And those times I held your hand, I had a reason to do so. To get you to look at me, to keep you from running away. I want to hold your hand,' He paused for a moment, looking a little embarrassed, 'without a reason to.'

Tifa blinked once at his last words. _'To hold my hand, without a reason to?'_

Lightning flashed once more as the droplets of rain began to fall on them. It always seemed to rain around them.

'Reno, it's starting to rain. We'll talk about this tomorrow okay? You should get home.'

'No, not until you let me hold your hand and you…to hold mine.'

Tifa bit her lower lip as she watched the man in front of her getting soaked. The aqua blue orbs didn't falter under the rain but instead, seemed to emit a glow…something more than just a glow, a feeling. An emotion. It scared her for a moment to realize she was staring right into his eyes where his emotions seem to be kept. She could see the _real_ Reno behind the cool-unbothered façade that he usually had. A different Reno from the one she saw during his Turk days.

All the sudden realizations made her wriggle out of his grasp as she turned away to retreat to the safety of her home.

'Tifa.' His voice was barely audible under the heavy patter of the rain. But she heard it all the same, somehow the sound of his voice calling her name was inadvertently stored in her mind. Tifa took a deep breath and looked back at him.

Reno had his left hand held out.

'You realize what this would mean don't you?' She asked.

Reno nodded once. By taking his hand, it would mean Tifa was whole-heartedly accepting Reno into her life. That she was admitting to her feelings. Her feelings for him.

That she, Tifa Lockheart, had fell in love with her former enemy.

She knew of his feelings. He made it clear to her, many times before, only it was her who ran away from it. But she knew she couldn't run away anymore. He could only take so much before he gives up on her. She didn't want him to give up, not at all.

Her fingers trembled lightly as her right hand reached out to his. Their fingers touched each other's lightly. The damp coldness of his from the rain gave a tingle to hers, but inside of her, in her heart, there was a sense of warmth. Her fingers gently made their way into his palm as Reno's fingers slowly enveloped hers. With a smooth motion, their fingers intertwined together.

She dared herself to look at him in the eye.

His blue orbs reflected the smile that was playing on his lips.

She smiled in return.

* * *

**A/N: Completed! Okay, so I am really mean for leaving this hanging for so long but thank you very much to everyone who has been reading and waiting patiently for this. Everyone who had left thoughtful and sweet comments, thank YOU. This is the final chapter cause really, I didn't think there was a need to drag this on any longer. It's really short too, sorry about that, but I had a sudden moment of inspiration and I thought it would serve alright as the final chapter, so here it is. Once again, I am sorry for making you guys wait so long. Hopefully, this chapter serves a nice round-up to the story, even if it's short. It's really fluffy too, I know. Lol. Thanks again. Cheers!**

**Excuse me for any mistakes and grammatical errors, I am actually in the midst of my assignment but since I had this idea, I thought I should write it before I forget. So this was not exactly checked for errors or whatsoever just yet.  
**


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